


When the Moon Starts Shining

by volleydorks



Series: Haikyuu!! Behind Bars [2]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Prison, Angst, Flashbacks, Hinata and Terushima are best bros, M/M, No such thing as peace here, Oops, Prison, Violence, and Dangerous, don't play with extension cords kids, games are bad, intentional misuse of a chapel, it gets worse and then it gets better... but then it gets even more worse, just don't play in general tbh, lots and lots of angst, ngl, oh and a bible, or Kageyama Tobio, or lighters, possibly deadly
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-11
Updated: 2018-11-04
Packaged: 2019-01-20 10:40:49
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 38
Words: 162,639
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12431079
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/volleydorks/pseuds/volleydorks
Summary: If someone gave you a chance to get to the top, would you take it?Most logical people would say yes. They’d thank the person, take the chance and enjoy their journey to the top. Maybe they’d admire the view, snap a cheeky selfie or two. And of course, they’d never forget what it felt like to be on the bottom.Kageyama Tobio isn’t one of them. He wouldn’t just take the chance. He’d snatch it right out of the person’s palm and kill them with that chance before using it to propel himself to the top. His hands would burn with the smoke of imminent execution as he grabbed his obstacles, threw them at his foes and continued to claw his way up to the top. Even at the cost of a comfortable love, Kageyama would continue to work his way up to the top and stay there, not wanting to give up the life he’d become accustomed to.Unfortunately, his enemies keep on multiplying.The number of allies on his side keep on decreasing.And, fate no longer favors Kageyama. His crown is beginning to tilt, and at this point, it's a competition to see what can knock it to the ground first.It’ll either be love.Enemies.Or, it'll be the same thing that once kept him safe. His lack of a conscience.





	1. Positive Energy

Chapter One: Positive Energy

      “Kageyama, I’ve got the bouquet you asked for. The Okinawa postcard, too.” Yamamoto bounded over to the sniper and handed him the blossoming bouquet, which had been smuggled in amongst all sorts of prison ingredients. “The yoghurt’s on a bit of a delay, but it should be here in two days max. Is that alright?”

      The sniper nodded.

      “Good work, Taketora.”

      The day had finally come, June 1st. Like usual, the sun was out, just waiting for Kageyama to go outside and bathe in its golden glow. He had his MP3 snug in his left pocket, along with his trusty earphones. He’d placed some yoghurt by the sheds the night before, since it was always cold at night. His cigarettes were safe in his room — he wouldn’t dare smoke on June 1st of all days — and most importantly, his mother’s letter was snug in his right pocket. He was set for the day.

      “Have a good day, Boss!” Yamamoto bustled over to the kitchen and began to scrub the counters. Tanaka and Nishinoya were too busy towel-whipping each other to add anything to the conversation and Asahi was standing there, worrying about the possibility of them knocking something over. Kageyama looked around the kitchen, taking in the atmosphere around him and nodded.

      “Yeah.” He walked back out into the empty cafeteria. It was barely six in the morning, so most people would either be in the showers or in bed.

      _But Hinata would be on the track_.

      Kageyama didn’t allow himself to dwell on the thought, he simply walked through and navigated his way around the hallways until he was greeted by the fresh air, warmed by the sunlight and all things sweet. The first thing he saw was the garden, where Kuroo and Tsukishima were standing together. They weren’t even _required_ to work that early, but they’d grown accustomed to spending time together outside. Not many people came outside at this time of day, so they were free to be more open with each other. There wasn’t much privacy inside, whatnot with all the new C.Os and nosy inmates like Ennoshita. The track was a little further ahead, but Kageyama had no need to go there. He turned to the right and walked along the perimeter of the building until he reached the sheds he loved so much, where there was shade, privacy and of course, his yoghurt.

      He crossed his legs as he sat down, similar to the way a schoolboy would when listening to the teacher. The bouquet was placed inbetween the gap in his legs whilst his yoghurt was lined up nearby. Although it was still shady where he was sitting, come midday, the sun would be directly above him.

      He plucked the Okinawa postcard out from the bouquet, staring wistfully at the laminated material. There was a beach there, a beach with clear seas which seemed to reach beyond the horizon. The sun cast a golden-coloured glow over the sand, made the greenery on the beach stand out just that little bit more. There were mountain-like structures in the distance, slightly darker than the cerulean sky that surrounded them. And then, there was the text.

      “Greetings from Okinawa, Japan.” Kageyama let his fingers trace along the words, letting them resonate in his heart as he thought to himself. _If Mom was here, what would she think? What would she want him to do with his life?_

      Still holding onto the postcard with one hand, he grabbed an earbud from the other and slipped it into his ear. He slipped out his MP3 next, selected the song he wanted to listen to and shut his eyes. While he listened to this song, he could envision the same beach he’d seen; the same greenery he’d thought about. That was what Kageyama did every year on June 1st. He’d think about his mother, while also keeping his past in mind. While some may say that it wasn’t healthy for Kageyama to think about his mother so much, considering that she’d died over twenty years ago, it was something that he just did. Not just to honour his mother, but to remember his roots. Where he came from. Who he knew, where he was and what he did.

      Kageyama’s eyes snapped open when he felt a presence nearby. He’d sensed it, the change in the air.

      “Reveal yourself,” the sniper commanded, pulling his one earbud out of his ear.

      “Tobio.”

      Sugawara stepped out into the sniper’s vision, careful to mind the yoghurt and cigarette stubs around the shed. Kageyama didn’t seem angered by Suga’s presence, but their last conversation hadn’t exactly been too positive either. Ever since their fight, they hadn’t spoken to each other normally. It didn’t help that the man was intruding on Kageyama’s special day, too. That’s why he was met with a dark glare from the sniper. Nevertheless, Suga continued to speak. “I think we need to talk.”

      Kageyama didn’t respond. He held Suga’s gaze for a few moments later before looking back down at his lap, where the bouquet lay untarnished. It was clear that he still had no intention of talking to Suga. Suga didn’t care, though. He was determined to get Kageyama to hear him out.

      “Remember when you, Daichi and I left Miyagi to join Karasuno? You tried your hardest to stop us from coming with you, but it didn’t work. The three of us hijacked some guy, took his car and made the journey down to Tokyo. You were hilarious! Daichi stopped the car, and you walked up to the window and said ‘Could you get out of the car, please? We’d like to steal it’. He said no at first, but then—”

      “Suga. I’m busy.”

      The grey-haired man sighed. “Come on, Tobio. It’s been weeks since you last talked to me.”

      “You know what day it is today, so don’t.”

      “Still… you shouldn’t isolate yourself like this. You know, things are different now. You can’t sit out here all day. Towada’s got his men doing hourly walks around the prison looking for stragglers,” Suga reminded him. Kageyama might’ve argued the point, but thinking about it, he realised that Suga was right. Ever since Towada’s urge to take Kageyama down had flared, he’d begun to implement his iron fist in the prison. Weekly square searches, unannounced square searches, body searches and of course, shots. Towada had even had the audacity to come into the King’s Palace himself and search everyone’s squares. He hadn’t been able to get into Kageyama’s room since he’d been explicitly forbidden to do that by the warden himself, but that didn’t mean Towada planned on giving up. He knew that Kageyama was a criminal; criminals were _always_ up to no good. He would take Kageyama down, no matter what. _And then, he’ll be the one bowing his head in an act of dogeza_.

      “He can’t touch me.”

      Suga looked around at all the things surrounding Kageyama. “He can’t touch you, but he can touch everyone else around you. He’ll ask about the contraband, and if he finds out it’s coming through the kitchen, he’ll get Yamamoto out. And the couriers.”

      The grey-haired man knelt down so that he was at face-level with the sniper, who still appeared indifferent. “I know how much you loved her,” Suga said, his voice softer. “And I know it’s hard to be strong when all this shit keeps happening. Towada and his C.Os, all these rules, checking, people dying… it sucks, alright? But, that’s why we need to get over that argument we had and _move on_.”

      “Don’t use my mother as grounds for your sympathy.”

      Judging from Kageyama’s harsh tone of voice alone, Suga could already tell that he’d stepped on a landmine. He might’ve tried to revive his point from the dead, but he’d already blown off all the limbs it had been standing on before. All he could do was apologise and move on.

      “I’m sorry.” Suga sighed, his voice still softer than usual.

      Kageyama nodded, but didn’t acknowledge Suga’s apology verbally.

      “I know you’ve been out of the loop lately,” Suga continued after a brief silence, “but things have changed a _lot_. I don’t have a good feeling about today, Tobio.”

      “So, what do you want me to do? You want me to play mediator?”

      “No. I want you to get out of this damn rut and start _ruling_ again. Fights are starting to break out because you’re not there to regulate things. Not to mention, the exchange rates are going out of control. It’s six chocolate bars for a flavoured packet of ramen, never mind the ramen itself.”

      Exasperated, Kageyama let his postcard slip out of his hands so that he could smooth out the stress lines in his forehead with his fingers. “It’s my mother’s birthday. Can you leave me alone now?”

      “No, I won’t.” Suga folded his arms stubbornly. “Are you forgetting something else about June 1st, Tobio?”

      “No, I’m not.” Kageyama’s hands dropped back down to his lap as he stared up at Suga with an expectant look on his face.

      “It’s the same day that your dad died.”

      “I’m aware of that,” Kageyama responded, his expression slowly becoming blank. When he thought of that simple fact — June 1st was the day of his dad’s death — he felt blank. Not empty, because that would indicate sadness. He just felt… blank. It was an event, a massive turnstone in this vast life that he’d lived, but he still couldn’t feel anything but blankness. He’d never spoken about the event with anyone. He didn’t need to.

      “I know he was an asshole and all, but isn’t it kind of like _celebrating his death_?”

      “No. Now, leave me alone. Isn’t Cigster waiting for you?”

      Judging by the way Kageyama spat the name out as if it were something toxic, Suga could see that Kageyama still wasn’t happy about the relationship between the two.

      “God, Tobio. You’re still going to bring that up?”

      Kageyama didn’t even bother to respond. He grabbed his earbuds, placed both of them in his ears and began to play the same old song, this time on a louder volume. Sugawara contemplated pulling his earbuds out and forcing Kageyama to respond to him, but he quickly decided that that would be the quickest way to get himself in even more trouble than he already was. So, he simply got back onto his feet, cleared away any stray cigarette butts and left Kageyama on his own.

      Knowing that count would be soon, Suga hurried back to his dorm. He was lucky enough not to get searched by any C.Os, making it back to the King’s Palace without too much incident. Kuroo and Tsukishima were sitting in Tsukishima’s square, sharing an MP3 player between themselves while snacking on some chocolate bars. They’d previously been outside, judging by the dirt on their clothes, but they’d returned inside for count. Nishinoya was sitting in Yamaguchi’s square with Kenma and Tanaka, the four of them taking turns playing games on Kenma’s game console. Asahi was reading a book, biting on his fingernails as he did so. Ennoshita was currently assembling his notebooks in order of importance (he couldn’t decide on anything concrete though) and Kinoshita was still half-asleep. The only Karasuno member who wasn’t there was Kageyama. That seemed to be the case a lot of the time, though.

      “Hey, Suga.” Tanaka looked up and waved the grey-haired man over with one heavily scarred hand. “How’s he doing?”

      Suga sighed as he walked towards Yamaguchi’s square, leaning on the wall as he regarded the four men in there. “No progress.”

      The disappointment was felt across the entire room as the four of them sighed in sync, casting their eyes over to Kageyama’s room door. There were some _clunky_ sounds coming from the console, an indicator that they’d just died on the game.

      It was a few moments later when Tanaka looked Suga in the eye once again, having found some sort of inspiration at last. “You still go running every day, don’t you? Was Hinata on the track?”

      Suga nodded. Tanaka’s eyes lit up in relief. “Wait, so why don’t we just go talk to him and see if he can help Kageyama to get his shit together?” The cook looked over at Kuroo and Tsukishima, who had stepped out of their square to go and join in the conversation. “He still works on the garden with you guys, right?”

      “Yeah.” Kuroo nodded. “He hasn’t been as talkative as usual though.”

      “That’s a good thing,” muttered Tsukishima. Yamaguchi snickered at the blonde’s comment, although he didn’t look up from the console that he was holding in his hands. From the sounds of it, Yamaguchi was pretty close to winning. Although, the frown that appeared on his face just moments later was proof that his brief lapse in concentration had cost him the round. He held out the console to Kenma, who took it and started playing almost straightaway, clearly oblivious to what was happening around him.

      “Can you guys kind of just _talk to him_ and get him to talk to Kageyama? I think Hinata’s the only one he’ll listen to right now,” Suga said. He looked a little disappointed, but he knew it was their closest chance of getting things back to the way they were before. Without Kageyama to constantly keep watch over things, Towada and his men were regularly sending people to the SHU for trivial things. They were obsessed with their quotas, obsessed with getting people to obey them. If Kageyama didn’t do anything about it, they’d eventually end up snatching his prison empire from him. And, as everyone knows, a king without his empire is nothing but a tired old man with enemies lurking around every corner.

      “It’s been a while since they last talked though,” Ennoshita remarked, walking his way into the conversation with a notebook in his hand. “In fact, this is the longest they’ve gone without speaking. Perhaps something happened?”

      “God, for once I’m actually _glad_ you keep those notebooks…”

      Ennoshita grinned at Suga. “Thanks! I had an interesting theory for it as well. I was thinking that maybe, Hinata and Kageyama aren’t speaking because Kageyama discovered Hinata’s undying love for another man. None other than Kinoshita—”

      “Come _on_ , Chikara! That ship is dead!” Kinoshita blazed into the conversation, shooting daggers at Ennoshita with his eyes.

      “Ships never die, they thrive.” Ennoshita smirked while dodging all of Kinoshita’s consecutive blows. The rest of Karasuno couldn’t help but crack a smile at the sight before turning back to face one another. By now, everyone had come out of their squares and gathered around Yamaguchi’s square.

      “Speaking of ships, how are things going with Shimizu?” When Suga mentioned the name ‘Shimizu’ to Nishinoya and Tanaka, the two got flames in their eyes as they thought about it.

      “She’s our counsellor,” Tanaka proclaimed proudly. “And yesterday… she called me Tanaka-san.”

      “Everyone… she also called me Nishinoya-san.”

      Once again, Tsukishima and Kuroo were snickering at the two. They were leaning close to one another, their arms brushing together as they rolled their eyes and murmured things to one another. It was as if they were in their own world.

      It was then that Towada’s loud voice came over the speakers. “It’s count time, count time!” It went on for a few moments, then there was a _click_ as his voice disappeared. Like clockwork, everyone began to hide all of their contraband in places you wouldn’t expect. There was a stress ball which could in fact hide money and a small phone if you tried hard enough. There were fake bricks in the wall where cigarettes and toys could be hidden without too much hassle. This was the King’s Palace. They could have whatever the hell they wanted, whenever they wanted.

      “I should probably go back to my dorm,” Kenma said, grabbing his console and slipping it into his waistband. But before Kenma could walk away, Yamaguchi grabbed his wrist, getting him to turn around.

      “Wait. It’s count,” Yamaguchi said. “You’ll get searched. If you go down, I don’t think Kageyama will be in a position to do anything about it. So… leave your console here for now.”

      The blonde nodded and handed his console ever.

      “Don’t drain the battery,” warned Kenma before he walked out of the square. Yamaguchi simply grinned in response and began to stash the console away. Kenma looked over at Kuroo, raised an eyebrow expectantly. “Hey, Kuroo. Are you coming?”

      Kuroo gazed down at the adorable blonde on his shoulder (also known as Tsukishima, the moodiest person in the dorm whenever he wasn’t with Kuroo) and then at Kenma, who looked quite impatient to leave.

      “Give me a minute. I’ll catch up with you.”

      Kenma nodded in response before walked out. Everyone else was focused on hiding all of their stuff before the C.Os made it to their dorm. Nekoma’s dorm would be searched at the same time by a different set of C.Os.

      “Kuroo.”

      He smiled at the sound of Tsukishima saying his name, raising an eyebrow as he responded with a “Yeah?”

      “You… you can take it off, you know. You don’t want to get caught with it.”

      “I’ll take my chances.” Kuroo’s smile grew devilish as he thought to what he had on him. Or rather, _in him_. “Say, don’t grow too ambitious with that remote.”

      “Sure thing.” Tsukishima laughed while reaching up to join Kuroo’s lips to his, entangling his hair in Kuroo’s as he did so. Kuroo reacted in kind, placing one hand on the small of Tsukishima’s back as the kiss deepened. It was only meant to be teasing, but now it was becoming something fiery, their bodies warm against one another as they kissed. Tsukishima’s lips moved to suck hard on Kuroo’s lower lip, causing the latter to let out a groan.

      “Jesus Christ guys, your square is _right there_ ,” Suga scolded, looking over at the couple who had decided to embrace each other in the middle of the damn room.

      Kuroo was the first to pull away, looking at Suga with an apologetic smile. “Sorry, Suga. But he started it.”

      Tsukishima’s infamous smirk appeared when he slapped his boyfriend on the ass and began to walk back over to his square. “See you later, Kuroo.”

      Kuroo stared at Tsukishima for a few moments as a slow smile stretched across his face, even despite the slight stinging on his backside. Then, he began to walk towards the exit door with a “See you later, Tsukki.” Tsukishima stared fondly at the door for a couple of moments, then looked down at the remote he had in his hands. A devious smile was beginning to cross his lips.

      “Hey, Tsukki. Don’t mind me for asking, but what does that remote do?”

      Tsukishima looked at his innocent friend, thought for a moment and then responded. “I don’t think you want to know.”

      Yamaguchi stared at him in confusion for a few moments, trying to figure out what could be so scandalous. Then, he simply shook his head and smiled. “I probably don’t.”

      Ennoshita, having crept towards the exit door, began to speed walk back to his square, giving everyone a glance which was code for _they’re coming_. Tsukishima hid his remote and made sure his bed was made before stepping out in front of his square, just like everyone else had. The King’s Palace was impeccable from head to toe. Simply looking at it, you wouldn’t be able to guess that there was contraband in there. Then again, everyone — including the guards — knew that Karasuno had ways of getting what they wanted. But, if they couldn’t find the contraband, it effectively meant that it didn’t exist.

      “Hello, boys.” Towada was standing at the front of the room, looking down all of the inmates as he made his slow patrol. His cronies were standing at the base of the room, watching for any sudden movements. “Say, where’s this leader of yours? I don’t see him standing out here.”

      There was no response.

      “I asked you a question, inmates. Where’s Kageyama Tobio?”

      Tanaka laughed, although it was mirthless. “He’s dealing with business, buddy.” At the sound of Tanaka’s voice, Towada turned to face him with a malicious snarl on his face.

      “Business,” Towada scoffed. “Yeah.”

      He turned to his cronies, who were dutifully stood at the front. “Search his room.” They nodded and began to move uniformly towards the closed door, ignoring the protests of the inmates.

      “You’re not allowed to do that,” insisted Suga, who was watching the door fearfully. He knew that Kageyama had countless amounts of cigarettes in there, things like heaters and mini fridges and food that could probably last him at _least_ a month or so. But, none of them had ever actually been inside Kageyama’s room, not even Suga. The only three people that had ever been permitted to go in were Kindaichi, Kunimi and… Hinata.

      The door was kicked open and then four C.Os were rushing in, turning the whole room upside down as they searched for contraband. Suga let out a deep sigh, pressing two fingers to his temple as he thought to himself. _Maybe he should’ve done more to get Kageyama back here_. Asahi caught his eye and smiled, as if he were saying that it wasn’t Suga’s fault. Everyone in the room knew that Suga tried hard, harder than was required. He really did try so hard to make everything right. He made mistakes, he made a lot of them, but nobody could stay mad at him.

      One C.O. rushed out, cradling countless cigarette packs in his arms. “We found all these in his drawers. There’s about fifteen in here, all brand new.”

      “Fifteen? He’s asking for an early death, huh?” Towada snorted with laughter as he looked around the rest of the dorm with his eyes, narrowing them at all of the inmates. “Say, if he’s got all this contraband, what’s stopping these guys? Oyasu. Tazawa. Yokote. Go search all the bunks thoroughly. Check every crack, every crevice and check the walls too.”

      At the mention of the walls, the colour began to drain from Karasuno’s faces. The walls had been their trump card when it came to hiding places, and now they’d had it snatched away from them.

      “Yes, boss!” The three men began to ravage the squares, ripping mattresses off bed frames and tearing pillow cases away from pillows. Stress balls were torn apart, the soles of shoes were removed and then they went for the walls. They kicked and tapped each brick, nudging until one finally shifted. If it sparkled, they deemed it as contraband and snatched it from its rightful place. The inmates noticed the massive rubbish bag which was brimming with all sorts of contraband, no doubt from the many dorms they’d destroyed before coming to this one. At seeing Karasuno’s distraught expressions, Towada allowed himself a grin that was akin to some of the most sinful criminals out there.

      “Hmm. Tazawa, come here.”

      A bulky-looking man with tan skin dashed forwards, holding Tsukishima’s ‘remote’ in his hand. Towada eyed the device in confusion, before looking up at the C.O. to ask what the device was. However, before Tazawa could respond, Towada simply took the remote out of his hand and began to fiddle with the buttons on it.

      “Wait! Don’t do that,” Tsukishima shouted, trying to run forward. He was instantly restrained by Oyasu, one of Towada’s cronies. He didn’t bother to struggle, although he couldn’t help but cringe as he realised what situation he’d just gotten himself into. Now that he’d reacted, he knew that Towada was going to milk this up as much as he possibly could.

      “What does this do, inmate?”

      Tsukishima flushed bright red. Everyone’s eyes were on him. “It’s… it controls a butt plug. It vibrates and spins around.”

      Towada’s face scrunched up in disgust while Karasuno didn’t appear that surprised. In fact, Tanaka and Nishinoya appeared to be quite amused by Towada’s disgust. Even some of the C.Os had to cover their mouths to hide the fact that they were laughing.

      “Well, in that case…” Towada turned the dial as high as it would go, causing Tsukishima’s eyes to widen even further.

      “No! Don’t do that!” He could only imagine what was happening to Kuroo right now. Since Kuroo wouldn’t be able to take it out himself, he’d have to bear with it until Tsukishima got his hands on the remote again.

      “Tell me where Kageyama Tobio is,” he said, wiggling the remote about. “Or, I might just have to press this little button here.”

      “I don’t know where he is!”

      Towada smirked. “Alright. Oyasu, while you’re restraining him, search him. He might have something else on him.”

      Oyasu nodded. Without warning, he began to pat the blonde down with much more force than necessary, reaching his hands into pockets and practically punching his body.

      “The rest of you,” Towada said, turning his attention to the snickering C.Os, “search the others.”

      “You can’t do this,” Suga insisted, stepping away from the C.O. who was beginning to advance on him. “We’re Karasuno…”

      “No. You’re criminals. What makes you people think you deserve rights?” Towada snorted with laughter, tossing his head as he did so. “You kill, you plunder and you steal. You people deserve worse than this. Living cushy with beds that are better than the average working-class person’s, mini fridges, water machines, all these _fucking_ sex toys… this is meant to be prison. Not your own little playground.”

      They were all hoping that Kageyama would just come and save the day already. They were hoping that he’d forgotten something, water, yoghurt, _anything_. Kageyama was the sole person who could stop this from happening. But he wasn’t here. Having resigned themselves to their fates at last, they stopped resisting and allowed themselves to be searched. Meanwhile, Towada was having fun watching Tsukishima’s expression twist into one of despair as he continued to fiddle with the remote. At last, Tsukishima couldn’t take it anymore.

      “He’s behind the shed.”

      The members of Karasuno looked at him, their eyes wide with disbelief. “Tsukishima, what the hell are you doing?”

      “They’ll find him anyway, alright?” Tsukishima sighed, pressed a cold hand to his forehead which was beginning to burn up. “He’s behind the shed. Now, can I have the remote back?”

      Towada snorted. “No. It’s about high time you people realise that you’re not at the top anymore.” He looked over at his cronies, who were still packing the contraband into those rubbish bags they were dragging around. Then, a smirk crossed his lips. “All of you. Take them to the SHU. Every single last one of them.”

      “Wait, boss. Warden said—”

      “I don’t care what Warden said. Take them to the SHU,” Towada said, putting heavy emphasis on every word as he walked into the centre of the room and looked around at the room full of irritated Karasuno members. He felt amazing, felt an artificial sense of glee at seeing the inmates glare up at him in disdain. It sent a shiver up his spine when he imagined how Kageyama would glare at him upon discovering that all his men had been sent to the SHU. Towada could feel it now. His chance for revenge. It was coming close, and soon, Towada would be able to make sure that Kageyama got to know just how much he resented him.

      Having no choice but to comply, the C.Os rushed forwards and began to drag off the Karasuno members one by one. It wasn’t easy though — they were beginning to lash back. Suga was landing hits, kicking and spitting at the bulky C.O. who was trying to take hold of him. Tanaka made scary faces in order to intimidate the C.O. in front of him. Ennoshita was throwing paper balls at the C.O. with one hand while writing plotline ideas with the other. And of course, Towada was watching the scene with amusement in his eyes. He pulled out a walky-talky, shouted a number and mere minutes later, countless reinforcements were rushing in to help quell the chaos that had begun to ensue. It was a bloody twenty minutes later when all of the Karasuno members were restrained at last.

      “We’ve got them,” the C.Os said with genuine relief in their tones.

      Towada grinned. “Alright, boys. Take them away!”


	2. A Palace without People

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nothing good comes out of Kageyama being angry. (At least, for those on the receiving end.)

Chapter Two: A Palace without People

      “That Towada guy is such an asshole,” Terushima growled.

      “Yeah. _Wada_ asshole,” Higa said, laughing at his own pun.

      The rest of the Johzenji raised their eyebrows at him, but said nothing more. Meanwhile, Hinata was sitting on his futon, not speaking to anyone. Like usual, everyone had decided to congregate in Terushima and Hinata’s square once the C.Os had left. They’d found all the drug paraphernalia stashed beneath Futamata’s bed. They’d taken it all — and Futamata.

      “I still can’t believe they took Futamata…” Bobata was in a similar state, staring down at the ground in lamentation. “I mean… does anyone ever come back down from max?”

      “You’ll have to ask some of the veterans in the Mukankei dorms. They’ll have lived to witness it,” Numajiri responded. For a brief moment, he found himself wondering what Fukurodani had been like before Kageyama’s arrival. He couldn’t quite imagine a Fukurodani where Kageyama wasn’t at the top. He had nothing to compare Kageyama’s reign to. Until he found another experience to compare it to, he could only compare Kageyama’s reign to one that was hellish. “I doubt it, though.”

      “Ha…” Bobata let out a deep sigh. “That sucks.”                                              

      “Yeah.”

      Terushima looked at the faces of everyone, noting their downcast expressions and lack of energy. Instantly, he knew that if he didn’t say anything to these guys, it would be impossible to revive the mood that made them Johzenji. Terushima was gutted — more than gutted, he was crushed. Futamata had been one of his best friends. But, he was Johzenji’s captain. He couldn’t afford to let his guys see him moping around, not at a time like this.

      “Guys, listen. We just have to laugh through it, remember? Life’s not going to be fun, but if we keep acting like it is, then it’ll become fun eventually. That’s how we’ve always gotten through things.”

      “They’ve sent two of our people down to max for having weed already, Terushima. Not the SHU. Max. Then you’ve got those fuckers in Karasuno who smoke cigarettes all day and don’t even get a slap on the wrist for it,” Bobata snapped. It wasn’t fair. There was virtually no difference between cigarettes and blunts, yet they both came with different punishments. “We can’t keep laughing through it, alright? This shit is going to keep on happening! They’re going to keep taking our people, our contraband, everything.”

      “None of us had any contraband. They only got stuff out of Futamata’s square and… wait, Hinata. Did you have contraband?” Terushima looked over at the orange-haired man, who was still staring blankly into space. “ _Hinata._ ”

      “Huh?” He looked up at last, sensing the less-than-savoury mood in the room. “What is it?”

      “Did the C.Os take anything from you?”

      There was a silence. Hinata’s face grew dark with resentment. Anger.

      “Yes,” he said at last, turning to face Terushima directly. “They did.”

      They hadn’t taken any ordinary item. They’d taken his notebook. The one he’d started with Kageyama. It wasn’t contraband, he’d insisted, he’d brought it from commissary. But they still took it, just because they knew he was associated with Kageyama.

      “Shit, yeah.” Terushima slapped a hand to his forehead, remembering at last. “They had that notebook…”

      “Wait. Maybe the King can solve this,” Bobata said, his eyes lighting up with hope. They all knew how much leverage Kageyama had when it came to solving conflicts within the prison. “Hinata. He can, right?”

      “They’re not talking,” Higa said. “They had a pris-understanding.”

      “Heh?” Bobata looked at the man in confusion. “Pris-understanding?”

      “Prison and misunderstanding creates pris-understanding. Since they’re in prison and they had a misunderstanding… pris-understanding.” The rest of the men were blinking back at Higa in confusion. They didn’t appear any less enlightened. “Man, forget it. It was a good joke, alright?”

      “Whatever.” Terushima rolled his eyes. “Bo’s right. You can get the King to solve this, can’t you? Last time, he started that riot when they tried to take his men to the SHU.”

      “We’re not his men,” Hinata quietly explained. “He doesn’t owe us protection.”

      “But he protected you,” Bobata pointed out.

      “Exactly. Protected. It’s in the past. Now, leave it.”

      The awkward atmosphere could be felt throughout the entire room. Hinata’s brooding expression and Bobata’s frustration only made it even worse.

      In an attempt to lighten the bad mood in the room, Higa asked a question. “Is this a bad time to suggest that we form a weed circle? I still have a few grams hidden in one of the closets. You know, there’s a loose brick and… yeah… it’s a high brick with a Q written on it, so that I remember which brick it is. I call it my High Q.”

      The rest of the Johzenji just shook their heads, letting out a deep sigh. Bobata, on the other hand, was infuriated that Higa would dare suggest that after Futamata had just been taken down for having weed. “Higa, you’re actual fucking trash.”

      “Fine. No weed for you,” Higa said, folding his arms stubbornly. “Anyone in? Hinata? Terushima?” Everyone just gave him the ‘look’ until he eventually shut up. “Fine. More for me.”

      He walked out of the dorm, leaving the rest of the Johzenji brooding silently to themselves about nothing in particular.

***

      When breakfast came, there were a crowd of angry inmates demanding to know where their food was. Since all of Karasuno’s men had been sent down to the SHU, there was nobody left to make the food. The C.Os, having been overworked and underpaid, were in a less-than-negotiable mood judging by the fact that they were pulling batons on any inmate who dared to twitch out of line. Three people had already been clubbed by C.Os for attempting to leave the cafeteria.

      The outrage continued, albeit quieter than before, until the man they’d all been waiting for stepped into the room, flanked by two C.Os. In a room full of silence, he was marched to the empty Karasuno table, where Towada was waiting with a smirk on his face.

      “Hey, King. Say, what’s become of your little empire?”

      Kageyama glared at him, although he was unable to do anything as he was marched up to the table and made to stand on top, putting him in the view of every single person in the room. Knowing this, Towada turned his attention to the inmates and began to speak.

      “Today, the members of Karasuno were all sent to the SHU for having ludicrous amounts of contraband. This is a message to all of you, every single one of you. We know what you’re doing. We see what you’re doing. And we will stop you from what you are doing. You are criminals. You are all evil. Under the eyes of the law, you will be treated as such. So, here’s your leader. Watch him fall.”

      Kageyama’s arms were released all of a sudden. There was weight on his shoulders; his head; his back. He was grabbed and pushed until he fell off the table and onto the ground, pain etching itself into his every orifice as he let out a weak moan. Hinata was somewhere in the crowd, watching as this happened. He was trying to get up, trying to rush forward but Terushima had a firm grip on Hinata’s shoulder.

      “Don’t be stupid,” he hissed. “You’ll end up in the same position.”

      The crowd was gasping, unable to believe that their infallible leader was being crushed by someone such as Towada. They’d all believed that Kageyama was the one man that could save them, but right now… it was as if he were just another inmate.

      Kageyama, still lying on the floor, looked up at Towada with a disdainful expression on his face. His eyebrows were sharp, straight lines as he glared, blue eyes burning a promise of death into the eyes of the man standing above him.

      “You dog,” snarled the sniper. “Don’t treat me as if I’m lower than you.”

      “Oh, but Mister King-of-the-Prisoners. You are.”

      Kageyama turned his attention to the crowd, about to issue a command for them to riot, but then he realised that they didn’t have that usual fire in their eyes.

      _What? What’s happening?_

      “If you try and start a riot, I’ll call more men in. We’re not afraid to kill you inmates, you know.” Towada’s eyes glinted with malice as he walked towards Kageyama, grinding the sniper’s fist into the ground with a heavy boot. “It’s the end of the line, Kageyama-kun. Now, bow to me.”

      “No.” Kageyama blinked, momentarily releasing his spell on Towada. The C.O. was stunned for a few moments, but became even more shocked when Kageyama next spoke. “Now, that’s something I know she wouldn’t want.”

      “She?” Towada moved his foot from Kageyama’s hand, taking a slight step back. “Who’s she?”

      “My mother.” Kageyama got to his feet, however precariously, and grabbed onto the edge of the table for support. “Say, I wonder if she’d appreciate your dead body as a birthday present. She never did like the idea of me getting bullied, especially by people like you…”

      Towada gulped. He hadn’t been expecting this. Sure, he knew Kageyama was a tough cookie (although he didn’t like the idea of comparing the cold-blooded killer Kageyama Tobio to his beloved cookies) but he’d expected Kageyama to crumble under this pressure. Under this humiliation. Alright, so maybe Towada had underestimated him. This was the king of the prisoners, after all. But… this was a battle of wits. Towada was a university graduate. Kageyama wasn’t. Hell, considering how young he’d been when he rose to the top of Karasuno, it was highly doubtful that he’d even attended school in the first place. Towada definitely had the brain power to go up against him. Towada could beat this scrawny little wimp. He had the power. The men. The authority. Kageyama had nothing but the clothes on his back — nothing more, nothing less. The odds were stacked against him.

      Kageyama couldn’t win.

      That much, Towada knew. Kageyama wouldn’t win, not against him.

      “So, the consensus is that you’ve taken my people to the SHU and searched my dorm for contraband. Is that it?” Kageyama flexed out both hands, testing to see if they were still in working order. He didn’t appear fazed by the many C.Os that were flanking him.

      “Don’t you have ears, boy?”

      When Kageyama’s glare deepened, Towada felt a shiver creeping down his spine. There was a silence which lasted all but a second while Kageyama pondered his options. If he were to injure any of the C.Os, including the head one who was currently smirking as if he thought he was superior to Kageyama, they wouldn’t hesitate to put him in max. But, if he didn’t do anything about the situation at all, he’d lose credibility. This could be considered to be a checkmate. Action would get him punished, and no action would end in chaos.

      “Not bad, Towada,” Kageyama said at last, a smile appearing on his face. It wasn’t one of the gentle smiles he’d finally figured out how to do, it was one of those smiles that looked awkward on his face and pulled at his cheeks in all the wrong places.

      “W—What?”

      “Say, Tazawa,” Kageyama continued, having turned his attention to one of the other inmates. “How’s Soichiro doing? He turned six a couple of days ago, didn’t he? He had a birthday party at your uncle’s karaoke place with a couple of school friends. He really does look like you. Sakura seems to be looking well too. It’s impossible to tell that she’s in her early forties. Say, tell her that those new blonde highlights really suit her hair.”

      “H—H—H…” Tazawa looked like he’d faint any second.

      “Also, Moritake. Your brother’s in hospital, isn’t he? Stage three lung cancer.” Kageyama rested his thumb against his lip, blowing out a thin stream of air as if he were smoking. _He could really use a smoke right now_. “It would be such a shame if he died before his time was up…”

      The C.O’s eyes widened. “You bastard, you leave him alone!” He lunged towards Kageyama, but Tazawa was there to stop him.

      “Idiot, don’t make any hasty moves!”

      “But he’s going to kill my brother!”

      Kageyama laughed bitterly, eyes just as sharp and deceiving as they usually were. “Oh, I never said I was going to do anything.”

      There was no denying it — he was pissed. He’d been dragged away from his spot right in the middle of his favourite song, the C.Os had trampled on his flowers and they’d laughed at the Okinawa postcard. He wanted nothing more than to watch them bleed. But he wasn’t a stupid man. He knew that there was a time and a place, and this wasn’t it.

      “Although, Oyasu. You’re standing with this man who’s preaching to us about how we’re evil, how we’re immoral, but you have child pornography on your computer. Say, you’re well-known on the Dark Web, aren’t you? During the summer, you go and help out at the nursery your mother owns. She doesn’t know what your ulterior motives are.”

      “That’s sick,” one person in the crowd said. There were various murmurs of agreement. That was all it took. Now, there was that flame of determination in everyone’s eyes, that desire to riot. To destroy. To claw their way to justice.

      Towada looked like he’d throw up any second.

      “Say, Towada. I’ve got some pretty interesting facts about you as well. Sending all these people to the SHU just for being gay, when you yourself had a gay lover during your university years.”

      This time, Towada’s cronies were the one to react in surprise. Kageyama was playing these facts like they were his instruments, and everyone was doing exactly what he wanted them to do. They were nothing more than his puppets.

      “That’s not true.”

      “Oh, really? I’m sure _Sanada-sensei_ would say otherwise.”

      At the sound of the oh-so-specific name, the blood drained from Towada’s face as his eyes widened, the thoughts in his brain just a little too loud for him to comprehend. He backed away from Kageyama, clutching a hand to his chest as he stared at the sniper in front of him. This was Kageyama, the king of the prisoners. He could snipe, not only with a gun, but with his words. And right now, he’d just killed each and every C.O’s spirits.

      “You… _you_ …”

      Kageyama’s ‘smile’ morphed into something more sinister as he adjusted his hair and straightened out his shirt. At this point, it was clear who held the authority in this situation. Not the C.Os, who were staring at him with fear in their eyes. Kageyama was in charge, just like always.

      “I want my men back from the SHU. Not only my men, but I want everyone out. I know what you’ve been thinking. I’ve been dormant, so I don’t know what’s happening. Unfortunately, you’re mistaken, Towada. This is my empire. I always know what’s happening, both on the inside and out. Nothing escapes me.”

      He stepped forward, holding Towada’s gaze as he did so. The rest of the C.Os were too terrified to make any moves to stop Kageyama from walking towards their leader. “If there’s so much as a scratch on any of them, I might have to make some people disappear.”

      Towada was still trying to speak through a series of choked gasps. He could see the inmates with the relieved looks on their faces, the smiles and the mocking smirks that he was on the receiving end of. He hated it. He _hated_ it. Towada lifted his fist and went to swing, but Kageyama was able to step out of the way. Towada lost his balance and fell to his knees, unable to do much else. Seeing this, Kageyama smirked and looked down at Towada, who still looked furious.

      “The only place a dog like you belongs is on his knees,” Kageyama remarked, relishing in the slight growl that left Towada’s lips at the not-so-endearing nickname. “Now, make the order, won’t you? I have business to attend to.”

      Towada ground his teeth together, clenched his fists and glared up at Kageyama. He wanted to kill him. He wanted nothing more than to tear the smirk off his face. He wanted to destroy Kageyama. But then… it would make him a criminal too. Realising that one fundamental fact, Towada couldn’t do anything but resign himself to the knowledge that he’d lost this battle of wits. In prison, education meant nothing. Experience was everything. And when it came to crime, Kageyama had him topped.

      “Oyasu. Go make the call to the Secure Housing Unit. Tell them to bring all the inmates back here with immediate effect, including the ones who were put in there for homosexual activity.”

      Oyasu nodded once and hurried away, seemingly relieved that he didn’t have to be on the receiving end of Kageyama’s glares anymore. Satisfied, Kageyama took a step back and turned his attention to the inmates, who were all still seated.

      “Everyone, I understand that you haven’t been able to eat today. Is that right?”

      There were a couple of yeses and nods from the inmates. So, Kageyama continued to speak. He’d noticed the rubbish bags that had been brimming with contraband just outside.

      “These C.Os in front of you are to blame. Now, it’s your choice what you all choose to do,” he said, shrugging his shoulders. “My work is done here.”

      Kageyama turned heel and walked out of the cafeteria, leaving an explosion of noise in his wake. He knew that the rubbish bags were assorted according to dorms. It took a bit of rifling, but he eventually found the Karasuno contraband bag. He was about to drag it off, when he noticed the leather notebook which had fallen out of one of the bags. _The notebook_. Kageyama dropped the bag and went straight for the notebook, his fingers tracing along the golden letters as he remembered the memories that had gone along with this notebook.

      “Shouyou,” he murmured to himself, flicking through the pages as he remembered the conversations they’d had, the times they’d argued. “Shouyou.” And now the pain was coming back to him, just as raw as it had been the first time. It was tugging at his heart, trying to leap forth from his tear ducts and causing his fingers to tremble as he let the notebook go at last. He walked away, grabbed his contraband bag and left as if nothing had ever happened. He hadn’t noticed the pair of golden eyes that had watched him walk away, the golden eyes that had watered at the sound of his given name. _Shouyou_.


	3. A Cause for Concern

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There's never any rest behind the bars of Fukurodani.

Chapter Three: A Cause for Concern

      It was a mere three hours later when everyone was brought back from the SHU. All of the Karasuno members, some people from the Mukankei dorms and some of the Nekoma members. Yamamoto and Kai had been put in for having contraband, much to their irritation. Towada and his men had had all sorts of things and abuse hurled at them, although since it had been coming from so many different directions, if they had punished one person, they would’ve had to punish them all. And punishing a prison full of murderers wasn't exactly the best thing to do. Towada knew it for sure now — their power came from the ever omnipresent Kageyama Tobio. It only made Towada hate the king even more.

      Meanwhile, Kageyama had resumed sitting in his usual place behind the shed. Those earlier events were still in the back of his mind, but they would remain there. He would need to clarify his terms with the warden, definitely, but for now it was his mother’s day. Not the prison’s. But clearly, it was asking too much for him to just have this one day without anyone interrupting him. He plucked an earbud out of his ear, glaring at the person who was standing above him.

      “What.”

      Kageyama was met with a smirk and a shrug of the shoulders from the short man standing in front of him. If anything, Kageyama had initially thought that he was a teenager. But, when he opened his mouth to speak, revealing his deep voice, that thought vanished from Kageyama’s mind.

      “I hear you’re the _jefe_ of this place.”

      The man was short, probably around the same height as Hinata. He also had a knife tattooed on the side of his temple. He looked like a try-hard.

      “So?” The word came out slightly snappier than intended, but the man in front of him didn’t seem to be fazed. He was wearing an orange uniform, which meant that he was new to the prison. It was a little worrying that a newcomer had been able to find him in his spot, although he didn’t bother to question it.

      “Oh, I’m sorry. I suppose I should introduce myself.” He grinned, revealing the vampire-like tooth of his. “Name’s Nakashima Takeru, although I prefer to go by just Takeru.”

      The name sounded familiar, but Kageyama couldn’t recall where exactly he’d heard it from.

      “So?”

      Either way, Kageyama didn’t see why he should care. He was just another small-timer gang member. He couldn’t hold a candle to Kageyama.

      “I’m going to be the new _jefe_ of this place,” he snarled, crossing his arms. “Your days are numbered, you piece of Karasuno trash. _Numbered_!”

      Kageyama laughed at him. “Alright. Good luck.”

      “Don’t laugh at me! I’ll kill you, asshole!”

      “Again, good luck.”

      Takeru clenched his fists in frustration. “Stop that!”

      “Stop what?” Kageyama smiled. “I’m just being polite.”

      At the sight of Kageyama’s smile, Takeru’s anger began to quell down. It was becoming replaced with an emotion more sinister, fear but not quite fear. It was something else.

      “Alright.” Takeru returned the smile, began to back away from the sheds. “I’ll see you around, _jefe_.”

      With that final declaration lingering in the air, Takeru disappeared off somewhere else. Kageyama forgot about it almost straightaway, not fazed by Takeru in the slightest. He placed both earbuds in his ears and threw his head back as the sun glowed above him, warming his skin and making him feel at peace with the world. When he closed his eyes, he could almost taste the Okinawan waves on his lips, the air; the fragrance. He could almost feel his mother beside him, soft touch and red hair that would billow up and curl in the summer winds. He could hear her laughs, her chuckles and her voice as she spoke to him, saying that one sentence Kageyama would never tire of hearing.

      **I know you’ll grow up to make me proud, won’t you?**

***

      “I’m so sorry, Kuroo.”

      “Do you know how sore I am? We said we’d work our way up the dial!”

      Kuroo was understandably pissed by today’s antics. Much to Nekoma’s amusement, he’d spent more time than necessary in the showers trying to pull that damn thing out, but of course, it had been to no avail. He’d been forced to deal with the sensations for an hour. An _hour_. Eventually, the remote’s battery had died and the plug had stopped vibrating. But that didn’t make Kuroo feel much better.

      “The asshole C.O. took it, Kuroo. Please. You know he’s got it out for us,” Tsukishima insisted, hurrying after Kuroo. “He even sent us all down to the SHU.”

      “Boo-hoo, you spent like two minutes down there. It takes like an hour to register everyone into the SHU, an hour and a half to drive there. You were all brought back after what, three hours? I spent a fucking month in there.” Tsukishima was slightly taken aback by the malice in Kuroo’s tone.

      “Kuroo…”

      “I want to be alone right now.”

      “Wait, Kuroo—”

      “I want to be alone,” he reiterated, walking into his square. He buried himself under his blankets, making it clear that it was no longer up for discussion. Tsukishima walked off in frustration, rubbing the nape of his neck as he did so.

      “That fucking C.O.,” Tsukishima muttered to himself as he pushed his way through the doors, making his way down the hallway. It was the first time Kuroo and Tsukishima had had a major argument like this since getting together. Tsukishima hated to admit it, but… it hurt.

      “Say, Tsukishima. Are you and Kuroo still canon, or is there still a chance of YamaTsukki?”

      Ennoshita had popped out of nowhere, holding a notebook in his hands. Tsukishima grabbed Ennoshita’s head, causing the aspiring director to cry out in pain. When the blonde let him go, Ennoshita stumbled up against a wall and clutched onto it as he waited for the pain to pass. Tsukishima continued to walk, not even acknowledging Ennoshita’s question. He was _pissed_.

      Meanwhile, the C.Os were in the staff room, but none of them were speaking. They’d been sitting in there for quite some time, but none of them had said a word. Not one word. Even Towada, the mouthy one, had nothing to say. Nothing at all.

      “What’s the meaning of this?” Warden stepped in, looking mighty irritated at the fact that he’d been called in. Before, he’d been enjoying some shoyu ramen at his favourite diner while speaking to his favourite waitress, but he’d had to stop midway because of the ‘emergency’ text he’d gotten from Towada. Now that he was here, it just seemed to be a case of C.Os not doing their jobs properly.

      “It’s about that damn inmate, Kageyama Tobio.” The rest of the C.Os nodded in agreement. “He needs to go to max. There’s no way we can control anything while he’s still in the picture.”

      Warden’s facial expression soured. “We’ve talked about this, Towada.”

      “He threatened to come after the families of my men. Is that not grounds for punishment, Ukai? As long as you’re allowing criminals like him to run rampant in this place, our lives are in danger.”

      Warden closed the door behind him and ran a hair through his snow-white hair as he let out a deep sigh. “What did you do?”

      “Eh?” Towada’s eyes widened. “What do you mean, what did I do?”

      “Kageyama’s not the type to threaten people unless they do something to provoke him,” he responded impatiently. “So, come on. What did you do?”

      “We did our jobs. That’s what we did.”

      Warden sighed, not speaking for a few moments as he thought. But, at last, he spoke. “Stay here. I’ll need to go and get Kageyama for his side of the story. It’s clear that I’m not getting the full picture here.”

      “But Warden—!”

      He wheeled around to face the C.O. whose hands were on his sleeve. With one shake of the arm, those offending hands were gone. Warden’s eyes darkened as his lips curled into a snarl. “If you’re trying to take Kageyama down, don’t bother. Why do you think that you’re the only man alive that’s ever tried to oppose him?”

      “I… I…”

      Warden walked away from the staff room, heading straight for the Karasuno dorm. It was a brisk walk that lasted him five, ten minutes but at last he made it through the pristine doorway. There was the dark Karasuno banner hanging high on the wall, the words ‘Fly’ written there. There were some Karasuno inmates trying to restore their squares to order after having them torn apart by the C.Os. There was Tsukishima, who was sitting on the bed with his fists balled in frustration. And then, there was the door to Kageyama’s room. It was open.

      “Ah, Warden! What brings you here?” Suga looked up at the older man, who was still staring at the open door with a perplexed look in his eyes.

      “Where’s Kageyama?”

      There was a silence before Suga responded. “It’s probably not the best idea to confront him right now.”

      Warden might’ve demanded answers about Kageyama’s whereabouts anyway, but he could feel the sour atmosphere in the room. Something had happened. Something bad.

      “Can someone tell me what the flying fuck is going on in my prison?”

      He was beginning to get irritated at the lack of knowledge he had about his own prison. It was getting to the point where he felt like he’d need to be here 24/7. Of course, he wasn’t actually going to spend the rest of his life in this sorry place — that was why he’d hired Towada — but if the man couldn’t even do his job right…

      “Towada’s men came in here,” Suga began to say. “They went into our squares, took all the contraband and then they went into Kageyama’s room.” Warden’s face was darkening in frustration as he continued to listen to Suga. “After that, he made the C.Os pat us all down and they made fun of us. Then, they tried to take us all to SHU. We were hit by some of the C.Os while they dragged us off.” There was a slight bruise on Suga’s jaw, where he’d been punched by a C.O. during the struggle.

      “Was Kageyama hit?”

      The man shook his head. “He wasn’t here when it happened.”

      “So, what the hell happened with him and the C.Os?”

      Again, Suga shook his head. “We haven’t seen him since we got back. You’ll have to ask someone who was in the cafeteria.”

      Warden’s hands were firm in his pockets, almost like two stones that he was carrying around for some bizarre reason. But, he nodded.

      “Alright.”

      The last thing Warden wanted was a repeat of the riot that Kageyama had initiated through a mere couple of sentences. Kageyama was powerful, no matter how much you tried to dress it up. Everyone was terrified of him. Even Warden himself was slightly scared by the amount of power the man held. He got the feeling that if he were to send Kageyama to max, everyone around him would die. The sniper saw everyone as his puppets; little playthings to be manipulated. It just so happened that Towada was beginning to break free of the strings.

      Warden was walking in the hall, trying to find someone. Usually, there’d be inmates crawling the hallways, but today it was empty. There was a lot of noise coming from the cafeteria. And then, there was a small man with orange hair who was leafing through a small notebook in his hands while walking away from the cafeteria.

      “Hey, you.”

      “M…Me?” Hinata looked up at Warden, who was looking back down at him with an expectant look in his eyes. Warden was sure he’d seen this inmate before. The hair, the hair…

      That’s it. Hinata Shouyou, the guy who was in Kageyama’s room that one time.

      “What happened in the cafeteria today?”

      The man flushed a bright red (in fact, it was pretty hard for Warden to remind himself that this was a man when he looked so much like a boy) and looked back down at the floor. After a brief silence, he looked up once again with a characteristic flame in his eyes. “Towada beat Tobio — I mean, Kageyama — up in front of everyone. He got his C.Os to push him off a table so that he could make a point.”

      “What? Shrimpy, are you being serious?”

      “Yes.” Hinata nodded, not even reacting to the nickname he’d just been given. “The C.Os also clubbed all the inmates that tried to leave.”

      Warden sighed and pressed both thumbs to either side of his forehead, breathing in and out in an attempt to control his frustration. After some moments filled with heavy breathing and awkward eye movements from Hinata, Warden placed his hands down and turned his attention back to Hinata, who had been quietly waiting to see if he could leave yet.

      “Did Kageyama respond with violence?”

      Hinata shook his head. “He just got up and began to ask about the C.Os’ families. He mentioned some facts too. Apparently, that Oyasu guy sells child porn on the Deep Web. Also, Towada was in a teacher/student relationship when he was in university.”

      Warden’s face blanched. “C…Child porn?”

      Warden was so fixated on the ‘child porn’ aspect that his brain had forgotten to process the second bit of information. In his defence, his brain wasn’t quite what it used to be.

      “Then, Kageyama just said that it didn’t make sense how Towada went on and on about how we’re bad people when he’s got criminal people in his ranks. He made Towada give the order for everyone to be released from the SHU, and then he left.”

      Warden could hardly believe his ears. Kageyama had used words rather than violence to get what he wanted. He looked down at this boy, then up at the cafeteria which was nearby. If Kageyama had decided to trigger another riot, Warden might’ve actually had to take action. But he hadn’t done anything of the sort. He’d affirmed his status without actually hurting anyone, and he’d managed to maintain his hold over the prison once again. All Warden could do was chuckle to himself as he realised just how much power Kageyama had. It was ridiculous, he thought, ridiculous that he’d allowed Kageyama to reach such a stage of power. No inmate should be higher than the C.Os. Yet, Kageyama was.

      “What a fascinating man,” he murmured to himself as he walked away. Sure, he didn’t believe with many of Kageyama’s sentiments, but he had to respect the power he had. Even so, Warden knew that this had become a problem that he could no longer ignore. Kageyama was so strong that neither he nor Towada could even begin to revoke that power from him.

      There was only one person in the whole of Japan capable of pulling that feat off.

***

      When Warden returned to the staff room, it was with a solemn look in his eyes, one that told of an imminent warning. He was still processing what that Shrimpy had told him and running through the possible scenarios in his head. Proper protocol would be to conduct a full investigation and suspend everyone suspected of illegal activity. But… the pressing issue was Kageyama Tobio.

      Everything else paled in comparison.

      “I gave you all explicit instructions not to do anything rash,” Warden said at last. “You all went over my head and did something that shouldn’t have been done. You angered him.”

      “But, Warden—” Towada began to protest, but quickly clamped his own lips shut when Warden cocked an eyebrow in his direction.

      “Even so,” Warden continued, “this incident has brought something to light. Kageyama Tobio has too much power over this prison. And because of that, you are no longer able to keep the rest of the inmates in check.”

      “Sir, I assure you that we will be able to keep doing our jobs—”

      Warden shook his head at Towada. “No. You won’t. It’s about high time that I brought someone in to solve this problem.”

      Towada’s eyes widened. “Who? What’s his name?”

      “ _Her_ name is Aida. She’ll be working here as my executive assistant. From now on, you go through her before she goes through me. Now, if you don’t mind, I’m going to go and finish my damn ramen.” Warden turned on his heel and walked out before any of the C.Os could respond. Again, they exchanged similar expressions of somewhat subdued shock, slack-jawed and mentally exhausted.

      “Well… I hope she’s cute,” one C.O. said at last.

***

      By dinnertime, everything was beginning to fall into place once more. Nishinoya, Tanaka, Yamamoto and Asahi were cooking in the back, serving out their usual dishes. Ennoshita was secretly selling gossip to the Shiratorizawans in exchange for some new notebooks. And of course, the C.Os were keeping watch over everyone. Towada was at the centre of it all, silently fuming to himself as he looked over at the Karasuno/Nekoma table.

      Kuroo still wasn’t talking to Tsukishima. He was sitting next to Kenma and Yamaguchi was sitting next to Tsukishima. The entire table could feel the awkward tension between the two. They all ate their rice and grilled fish in silence, neither of them really knowing what to say. They’d all thought that Kageyama wouldn’t be able to do anything, but they’d all been proved wrong, _so_ wrong.

      At last, Yaku was the first to speak. “Why isn’t he here?”

      “It’s June 1st,” Suga responded. “You know he never talks to anyone on that day.” Suga was the only one at the table who knew the reason why. Everyone else just assumed it was one of Kageyama’s many quirks.

      “Still…” Yaku let out a deep sigh. “This prison’s in trouble. I can sense it. Man, he’s always so up and down…”

      Recently, Kageyama had been a lot colder than usual. He’d gone from smiling down at that notebook of his to not smiling at all. It was a cycle — sometimes Kageyama would be happy and sometimes he wouldn’t be. Even then, Kageyama’s version of ‘happy’ was different to anyone else’s.

      “I’ll talk to Hinata tomorrow,” Kuroo said. “That should work.”

      Suga’s eyes lit up in interest. “Actually, what’s going on at the Johzenji table?” The men turned their heads to look at the Johzenji table, where there was a guy in an orange suit. Short stature, shaved head and a pink bandana. The life seemed to have drained out of Hinata’s eyes as he stared at the guy in front of him. The skinhead was smirking.

      “Say, Shou-chan. Do you remember what I said would happen if you tried to leave me?”

      Hinata didn’t respond. He shook his head, leaned back on his seat. He wanted to melt into the ground.

      “Really? You forgot that easily?” His lips curled into a malicious snarl, one which made countless shivers crawl down the orange-haired man’s spine. “I said I’d strangle you, Shou-chan. Exactly one week later, you disappeared. You dropped out of university and you left home. I searched for you everywhere. It was like you’d never existed.”

      “Oi, inmate.” Takeru came face-to-face with Towada. “Sit down.”

      Takeru turned his attention onto Towada. “Fuck off.”

      The C.O’s face went puce with anger. “What?”

      “Fuck off. I’m in the middle of a conversation,” snarled the former Wakunan leader.

      “Why you…” Towada pulled out a shot book and began to scribble some notes down. “That’s two shots, inmate. Now, sit down _,_ otherwise life is going to get very hard for you.”

      Takeru looked like he was about to fight Towada, but then he seemed to rethink his decision. He looked over at Hinata once again and smiled, his entire demeanour having changed all of a sudden. When he smiled like that, the corners of his lips pulling upwards and lifting his cheekbones, it was as if he were just an innocent child with a new toy. But then he’d still have that lurking glint of malevolence in his eyes. Takeru’s eyes were never really sincere — they always seemed to be playing a game with you.

      “See you around, Shou-chan!”

      Takeru walked off at last, headed straight for one of the Mukankei tables. There was no doubt that Takeru was already beginning to build himself a brand new army. In the past, Takeru might’ve been welcome to join the Johzenji, but seeing how Hinata was reacting to him… none of them could allow that.

      Tsuchiyu cleared his throat before asking the question that was in everyone’s head. “Hinata… who is that?”

      “My ex,” responded the orange-haired male. “Nakashima Takeru.”

***

      Come night time, Tsukishima found himself sitting in the chapel. Recently, it had become a habit of his. While he’d never really considered religion before, he was fascinated by the chapel. The seats lined with red felt, the cross which was displayed at the front and the stained glass windows depicting all sorts of religious figures.

      “Tsukki.”

      The blonde turned to see that Kuroo was there, but his hair was down. It was such a stark contrast that Tsukishima almost didn’t recognise him for a few seconds. But then he did — after all, how could he mistake those dark eyes and chiselled jaw for someone else?

      “Kuroo,” he responded, standing up from where he’d been sitting.

      “I’m sorry,” he said at last, pulling Tsukishima into a hug. “It wasn’t your fault, I know. I was just pissed because my ass was so _sore_.” He let out a chuckle, his breath warm against Tsukishima’s ear. “Man, it still is.”

      Tsukishima pulled away and placed his hands on Kuroo’s shoulders, looking straight into the man’s eyes. “Well… you’re free to make mine sore too. If you want, anyway…”

      Kuroo burst into genuine laughter this time, looking around himself. “We’re in a chapel,” he reminded Tsukishima. “God’s watching us.”

      “Do you see where the moonlight’s shining?” Tsukishima directed Kuroo’s vision towards the front of the chapel, where there were countless beams of moonlight scattered. When the man next to him nodded, Tsukishima continued to speak. “It’s his way of saying _do it there_.”

      “You’ve always been so wise, my dear Tsukki.” Kuroo plucked Tsukishima’s glasses off and put them on himself, grinning stupidly once he’d got them on at last. “Say, do I look like I just gained a couple of IQ points?”

      Tsukishima found himself genuinely entranced by the sight of Kuroo wearing his glasses. All he could do was stare until Kuroo himself began to blush, slightly confused by Tsukishima’s delayed response. “What, do I look weird?”

      “Take off your trousers,” was Tsukishima’s demand.

      “Wait, aren’t we going to do it in the moonlight?” Kuroo teased.

      “Trousers. Now.” Tsukishima was already on his knees, looking up at Kuroo with a gaze he knew that he wouldn’t be able to resist.

      Kuroo shrugged, but he didn’t argue the point. He tugged his trousers down as ordered and smiled down at his Tsukki, who had an even hungrier look in his eyes than usual. “Say, can I take these glasses off now? I feel kind of weird—”

      “No way.” Before Kuroo could say anything else, the blonde had hooked his fingers into Kuroo’s briefs and was now beginning to kiss his way along the swell of Kuroo’s thighs. Kuroo let out a sigh of contentment as Tsukishima’s hands slowly began to tease him through the thin fabric, gentle yet heavy at the same time.

      “Holy shit, Tsukki… that’s nice…” Kuroo’s erection was steadily growing in his boxers, to the point that it was beginning to poke Tsukishima’s face. The blonde’s deft fingers pulled Kuroo’s boxers down at last, golden eyes holding Kuroo’s as he began to lap at the erect tip, holding Kuroo’s waist with both hands. Their breathing grew heavier as Tsukishima felt himself beginning to become excited; his own boxers were beginning to feel more constricting than comfortable.

      Kuroo began to entangle his fingers in Tsukishima’s hair as he slowly eased the blonde off his length, smiling down at him through a gaze which was only magnified through those lenses of his. “Hey, hey. We’ve got all night,” Kuroo teased. “It’s about time I satisfied you, Tsukki.”

      “Keep the glasses on,” the blonde ordered as he got to his feet.

      “They’ll break.”

      “If you break them, we’ll never have sex again.” Tsukishima pulled his shirt off and joined his lips to Kuroo’s, who eagerly returned the gesture. “God knows you wouldn’t be able to cope with that.”

      “Do you really need to say _God_ while we’re in a chapel?”

      Tsukishima smirked against Kuroo’s lips. “Of course. It’s something called _reverence_.” The two of them stumbled into the rays of moonlight, Kuroo tugging Tsukishima’s trousers down as they did so. The blonde groaned against Kuroo’s lips when his hands grazed against the hardening bulge in his boxers, and again when Kuroo decided to take his time taking them off.

      “Kuroo, I swear to God, if you don’t take my boxers off—”

      “Patience, Tsukki,” the man scolded, kissing along the blonde’s jawline. “I’ll take more than your boxers.”

      “What? You already took my virginity,” Tsukishima grumbled. “What else can you take from me?”

      Kuroo smirked and lifted the blonde into his arms, placing him right on top of the altar. Tsukishima yelped at the sudden action, while Kuroo simply let out a deep chuckle. He’d managed to pull Tsukishima’s boxers off _and_ put him onto a different surface in one move. And to top it off, he was still giving Tsukishima one of the most sultry looks ever through his glasses. Tsukishima was so hard that it _hurt_.

      “I’ll cleanse you of your sins,” Kuroo said, adjusting the glasses on his face so that it caused a sudden glare. It lasted all but a few seconds before Kuroo tapped them once again, causing the glare to disappear. “Now, where’s the holy lube?”

      Tsukishima let out a genuine laugh, hardly able to believe that they were really doing this. “We’re going straight to hell, we are.”

      Kuroo’s fingers, now lubed up, began to rub along Tsukishima’s most intimate parts, causing the blonde to let out a deep sigh of contentment. “ _Fuck_ …”

      Kuroo smiled, let his lips drift across the tendrils of hair which were falling down Tsukishima’s forehead. They went to rest on Tsukishima’s earlobe. “I’ll gladly go to hell as long as I get to stay with you, Tsukki.”

      He pushed Tsukishima’s chest down so that he was laid down with his legs spread out on the altar, his lubed-up erection standing up straight. Then, Kuroo got down on his knees, spread the blonde’s legs out just a little bit more and began to lick Tsukishima _there_.

      “Ah! Kuroo,” Tsukishima whimpered, biting down on his lip. “That’s… you… you can’t…”

      Kuroo looked up at Tsukishima through dark eyes, a smirk tugging at his lips. “Is there a problem?”

      The blonde hastily shook his head, laid back down and let out yet another groan when Kuroo continued to tease him. He was every bit as diabolical as he looked, in the way that his fingers would teasingly slick their way down Tsukishima’s length as if reminding him that he hadn’t forgotten about it; in the way that his tongue would keep probing, licking, _touching_.

      “I’m going to come… _Kuroo_ … please, don’t stop,” Tsukishima cried out, clutching the sheets beneath him as he felt it beginning to roar through him. It was explosive, imminent as his lips tore open, letting out one final cry. But then, the actual explosion never came. Kuroo was standing there with that same teasing smirk on his lips, having detached his lips from Tsukishima just as he was about to come. “Kuroo!”

      “Hmm? I’m not done cleansing you of your sins yet,” he teased, letting a finger hit against Tsukishima’s length. It gravitated towards the blonde’s stomach but was soon standing up just as straight as it had been before. “Say, how can I make you repent?”

      “Come _on_ ,” Tsukishima complained. “The C.Os might come down if they hear too much noise.”

      “I’m pretty sure you’re the only one making noise,” Kuroo teased.

      Tsukishima’s cheeks went bright red. “ _Kuroo_ ,” he growled, sitting up on the altar. “I’m going to gut you.”

      “Try and catch me then, Tsukki.”

      And that was how Towada found himself watching two fully-naked men chase each other around the altar, whooping and laughing as they leapt over wooden seats and launched Bibles at one another. If it had been any other day, Towada would’ve had the both of them sent to the SHU. But it was two in the morning and he didn’t have the energy to deal with it. Not to mention, they were affiliated with that damn brat, Kageyama Tobio. They hadn’t even noticed him standing there, even after an entire sixty-three seconds had passed. Letting out a deep sigh, he closed the door and began to walk away from the chapel. He’d write up shots for the both of them, but he wouldn’t do much else. He was too disgusted with himself for actually finding himself somewhat _aroused_ by it.

      “Goddamnit,” he muttered as he made his way back to the main building, rubbing a hand through his tired hairstyle. “Today’s been too long.” He finally signed out, went through reception and into the outside world. He would only get to sleep for a few hours before returning to this place, returning to this prison. It was only meant to contain the prisoners, but Towada was beginning to feel like a prisoner himself. Although, anyone would when subjected to the likes of Kageyama Tobio.

      Towada swore it on his family name — he was going to take Kageyama Tobio down. No matter what. Even if it cost him his freedom, his victory, he’d do it. No brat will ever make him get down on his knees like that. Not again.


	4. Bloodstained Feathers

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact: while posting this chapter I realised that 'bloodstained' is one word. I always thought it was 'blood-stained'

Chapter Four: Bloodstained Feathers

      Kageyama himself didn’t actually return to his dorm until Saturday morning. He’d fallen asleep while listening to music and he hadn’t woken up until the beginning rays had poked out from the clouds, rousing him from his deep sleep. The Okinawa postcard was ripped up and burnt to shreds. The bouquet of flowers, although trampled, was still in pretty good condition. So, he’d taken them over to the garden where Kuroo and Tsukishima worked. It would spice up their love life, he reasoned. After that, he’d made his way back to the dorm just in time for count, which was at eight o’clock. This time, it wasn’t Towada’s men that came. It was the usual C.Os like Aone and Ushijima who came to do count for Karasuno’s dorm. After yesterday’s incident, it was understandable that Towada’s men stayed far away from the Karasuno dorm.

      “We’ve been ordered to look in your room,” Ushijima informed Kageyama. The sniper sighed, but he nodded and stepped aside from the door so that Ushijima could go inside. He was in there for a minute or two before coming back out, having ascertained that there were no weapons or drugs in there.

      Aone cocked his head at Ushijima, asking a silent question. Ushijima nodded. “Yes, everything’s in order.” He turned to face the rest of the inmates. “You may all begin to make your way up to the cafeteria.”

      Ushijima and Aone left at last. The rest of Karasuno was beginning to file out.

      “Everyone.”

      Karasuno turned around to face Kageyama, who was wearing a dark expression on his face as per usual. “After breakfast,” the leader continued, “I want everyone to be waiting at the chapel. That includes Nekoma. There’s something that needs to be discussed.”

      “Don’t mind me for asking, but is it about yesterday?” Nishinoya questioned.

      “I’ll say what it’s about when the time comes,” Kageyama responded impassively, dismissing the men with a wave of the hand. “Go and eat. And for God’s sake, please don’t cause any trouble in the cafeteria.”

      Everyone let out various hums of acknowledgement before shuffling out of the room in a disorderly bunch, discussing various topics as they drew further and further away from the dorm. The only person who was yet to join them was Suga, who had chosen to stay behind in the dorm. Kageyama, noticing this, looked over from the door and to Suga, who was cautiously approaching him.

      “Tobio,” Suga began to say. “I’m sorry about yesterday—”

      Without any warning, Kageyama wrapped his arms around the grey-haired man, stilling any apologies that had been about to leave Suga’s lips. Kageyama’s hands were cold and his hair felt slightly greasy, but it didn’t stop Suga from returning his embrace, holding his friend so tight that he could’ve burst any second. There was still a faint scent of flowers on his clothes, his skin; the smell of fire and menthol cigarettes which would probably never leave him. But what shocked Suga most was the vulnerability. In all the years he’d known Kageyama, he’d never once seen him so vulnerable. But now, as Kageyama’s hands clutched onto Suga and his chest heaved up and down, Suga knew that Kageyama was in need of comfort even more than ever.

      When Kageyama pulled away at last, he stepped against the wall and breathed in and out for a couple of moments before letting his eyes open. “I’m sorry,” he said, genuinely sounding sincere. “You’re the oldest friend I have. Daichi wouldn’t want me to be pushing you away like this…”

      Suga didn’t respond, he simply shrugged his shoulders and allowed a wan smile to cross his face. He was by no means over Daichi’s death, but he was coping with it. That was the important part.

      “Just so you know, I still don’t like you being with Keishin. But, at a time like this, I don’t have time to be holding grudges.” Kageyama was too stubborn to admit that he’d missed Suga acting all motherly in his life. He’d already lost Daichi, a man who he’d seen as a father. He couldn’t lose Suga too.

      “I wouldn’t expect any less from you,” Suga said, pinching Kageyama’s cheeks and laughing when the sniper tried to swipe Suga’s hands away. “Now, you haven’t been talking to Hinata for quite some time. What’s up with that? And no, you’re not allowed to run away from this either.”

      Kageyama sighed. “Why do you have to make things awkward?”

      “It’s my job. Now, spill the beans.”

      “We’re just not talking.”

      Suga pursed his lips together. “Hmm… did you argue with him?”

      Kageyama shook his head.

      “Did you tell him about your past?”

      There was a pause. Suga’s eyes clicked at last, his understanding of the situation clear as he let out a sigh. “Jeez, Tobio. You’ve known the man for how long, two minutes? Don’t tell him your entire life story,” he scolded, even wagging his finger at Kageyama.

      “That’s not why,” Kageyama insisted. “He… he doesn’t care about what I did.” The Hinata-styled words from the notebook were emblazoned in Kageyama’s mind, just as clear as they had been when he’d first read them.

**I don’t care what you’ve done.**

**I don’t care what you did.**

**I don’t care what you will do.**

**I just need you to love me, Kageyama. Please.**

      Kageyama blinked the words out of his mind, focused on the man who was standing in front of him. “He’s got different goals, I’ve got different goals. That’s all there is to it. Now, I’m going to go and have a smoke.”

      “So, are you saying you don’t care about him anymore? I seem to recall you insisting that you want to protect him…” Suga raised an eyebrow teasingly.

      Kageyama’s facial expression darkened. “Suga.”

      Suga didn’t seem fazed; he simply grinned back in response. “Tobio.”

      The sniper shook his head and turned back to go into his room. “Enjoy your breakfast.”

      “Sure thing. I don’t know if Hinata will enjoy his, though. After all, it looks like someone’s causing him trouble…”

      Upon hearing the word ‘trouble’, Kageyama’s head whipped around so quickly that Suga was pretty damn sure Kageyama had hurt his neck. And judging by how Kageyama’s hand moved towards his neck mere seconds after the reaction, his fingers moving around the area in massaging motions, Suga’s suspicions were correct. Kageyama was a smart cookie, but he was also a somewhat fragile cookie.

      “Who?”

      Suga smirked. “Ha… I knew it. You’ve still got the feels.” When Kageyama’s cheeks became tinged with a slight pink, it only confirmed Suga’s suspicions. Nevertheless, he continued. “Remember that Wakunan guy that Ennoshita was obsessing over, Nakashima Takeru? He’s come to Fukurodani.”

      and suddenly, everything clicked into place.

      **You remind me of my ex.**

      **It’s that behaviour which reminds me of my ex.**

      **My ex, my ex, my ex**.

      That ex that Hinata wouldn’t quit going on about.

 **I never wanted to be part of Wakunan** , the journal entry had read. **I met my ex-boyfriend in an alleyway, and he’d killed a man. Since I witnessed the murder, he forced me to join the gang. My grades began to plummet and I was beginning to wonder if I could ever grow to play volleyball professionally. I loved him. I still do, even though he abused me the way he did. I’m so scared of him.**

**How do you deal with fear, Kageyama?**

      That was the ex. He’d forced Hinata into that gang. And Hinata loved him, even after all that abuse. And then Kageyama had lied, said that he’d never had to deal with fear.

      That was a lie. He’d spent so many years living in imminent fear that it became natural to him. He constantly had to look over his shoulder, constantly had to keep a firm hold on his prison empire. He had to carry it all by himself. His greatest fear was watching Hinata fall into the same trap he had.

      Now, Takeru was going to take both his empire and Hinata.

      “Not my problem,” Kageyama said, shrugging his shoulders. “Again, enjoy your breakfast.”

      With that, the sniper walked back into his room and closed the door, letting himself slide down to the floor at last. He buried his head into his lap, breathing heavily as he felt the stress beginning to crash down on him. This was nothing like being on the outside. On the outside, he could fly to any part of Japan he liked and escape his enemies. He had eyes on the outside. He had money. Weapons. Power. But in here, all he had was his wits and his bluffing. It wouldn’t take too long before people realised that he couldn’t do anything to people on the outside. He could gather information on them, but that was the extent of his powers. Nothing less, nothing more.

      And when that happens, what’s going to happen to him? There’ll be people lining up to watch him fall. Hell, they’ll probably throw rocks at him as he falls. He’s been at the top for so long that he can’t see himself being anywhere else. His position had never been in danger until he met Hinata. Now, he was sloppy. Careless.

      Emotional.

      Kageyama let out a yell of frustration, which was muffled by his lap. His fist thwacked against the ground, then his other fist. The dull ache served to clear his mind, clearing until only one thought was left.

      _Remain at the top_.

      In this world, there was nothing without power. Without power, you were nothing. Human beings, they all crave power deep down. Kageyama knew that better than anyone else. As much as power made him a target, part of him craved the thrill of being a target. He craved the thrill of taking people down. This was nothing new, was it? Despite Towada’s ‘enthusiasm’, he was still a rookie C.O. who didn’t understand the fine linings of his job title. Kageyama had the advantage in every way possible. Sure, Towada had the badge. But, in a prison, the only badge that mattered was the body count. In that aspect, Kageyama had Towada beat.

      He had Towada beat in any way possible. There was no scenario in which he could lose, no scenario whatsoever.

      “That’s right,” Kageyama said to himself, standing up and retrieving his box of cigarettes. He wasn’t frustrated anymore. Now that he’d calmed himself down, he was focused on the prize. Hell, he was already reaping the benefits of this prize. Despite the little voice which was telling him that he needed more than power, he ignored it and walked out of his room, determined to get through at least two cigarettes before carrying on with the normal activities of his day.

***

      “Hinata! Man, I was starting to think that you’d died! How come you didn’t put me on your visitation list? I tried to roll in for a couple of Saturdays after you got here but they kept telling me that I wasn’t on your visitation list. I told them it was bullshit, so they got mad at me and shit and it was like what’s your problem? Fuck you. And then you never phoned me, so I was worried that you’d forgotten my number. You’ve never been much good at remembering numbers, ha? You were _atrocious_ at maths back when we were in school. Although, I wasn’t much good either. That was Akaashi’s strong point. Also, do you remember that show we were watching together, Haikyuu? Season Two came out last week and Akaashi and I have been binging on Season 1 while waiting for the next few episodes… it’s so good, Jesus Christ. You know, Akaashi got mad at me since I kept hooting at the screen every time that owl guy came on. You know, I think his name is Hokuto Hootarou! It’s really similar to mine! Man, he’s such a rad guy. If only he was real… he and I would totally be bros. Totally. And man, since the volleyball season’s over for now, Akaashi and I have had a _load_ of time to ourselves. It’s mad. Yo, you know that there was this one dog—”

      “Hey, hey. Are you going to let me speak?”

      Bokuto let out a deep laugh. “Sorry, bro. How are you doing?”

      Hinata let out a deep sigh. “Honestly, I don’t know anymore. Where’s Akaashi?”

      “He’s at his parents’ place. So, you’re stuck with me!”

      Hinata was able to crack a smile this time. “I don’t think I can put you on my visitation list just yet. Or Akaashi.”

      “Why not? It must be lonely as hell in that place,” Bokuto reminded him. “You know. You need some bros in there to lighten the mood.”

      “I don’t think there’s anything that can lighten fifteen years,” Hinata replied coolly.

      When there was an awkward silence on Bokuto’s end of the line, Hinata knew he might’ve sounded just a bit too snappy.

      “Sorry,” Hinata said at last, leaning against the brick wall. “I didn’t mean to be so…”

      “No, it’s fine.”

      “I’ve changed a lot since coming here,” Hinata began to say, cautiously choosing his words. “You… you might not like what I’ve become. God knows Hitoka didn’t,” he added, thinking back to the last time they’d spoken. He’d called off their engagement and asked for the rings back. That same day, he’d also been rejected by Kageyama. It had hurt.

      “Shit, yeah. You guys broke up, right?”

      Hinata shrugged. “It was bound to happen.”

      “Akaashi and I broke up for like a week or two because he told me we were breaking up over the phone, but then I went to him and he said that he hadn’t actually broken up with me, the _line_ was breaking up and it had just been the biggest misunderstanding ever and I felt so bad so I took him out for coffee and then we ate some eggs with toast and it was so good and I was just so happy that Akaashi didn’t want to break up with me…”

      Hinata closed his eyes as Bokuto began to burble into his ear, letting the words flow through one ear and out the other. He’d missed being subjected to Bokuto’s long rants; he’d missed sharing meat buns with Akaashi and Bokuto. He’d missed all of it. But he also missed passing notes with Kageyama, he missed sitting in Kageyama’s room every Friday and he missed the feeling of Kageyama’s eyes on him; blue against gold; warmth against such coldness.

      “…but then this guy came over and he said—”

      When Bokuto’s voice disappeared all of a sudden, Hinata’s eyes snapped open. Takeru was standing in front of him. He’d flicked the call off with that usual smirk on his face and that malicious twinkle in his eye. “Hey, Shou-chan. Who’s that you’re talking to, hmm?”

      Hinata didn’t respond. He just put the phone back where it was and tried to walk away. But, it didn’t seem like Takeru was planning to let Hinata just walk away this time. His large hand lunged for Hinata’s shoulder, pulling him back with a sharp tug and throwing him right up against the wall. Hinata’s body was trembling so much that Takeru could’ve sworn that he was vibrating.

      “You’re pathetic, you know that?”

      Takeru kept a careful eye on Hinata’s facial expression, feeling somewhat disappointed when Hinata’s face remained blank as he spoke the hateful words. Usually, any sort of negative adjective attached to ‘you’ would make Hinata burst into tears, but right now, he was eerily blank.

      Takeru’s hand moved of his own volition, his beefy fingers curling around the delicate skin of Hinata’s throat and tightening, listening as Hinata began to choke and scratch at Takeru’s hand, feeling himself losing more and more oxygen as the seconds ticked by. Takeru did nothing but smile at him, an innocent smile that made Hinata sick to the depths of his stomach. He might’ve thrown up — hell, he could feel the bile threatening to rise with every passing moment — but he wasn’t trying to give Takeru yet another reason to hate him. No way.

      “Shou-chan, it’s been so long! Aren’t you going to at least smile, huh? Aren’t you going to welcome me?”

      Hinata shook his head, tried to escape Takeru’s grip. It only tightened even more. “You little twink,” he growled, slamming Hinata’s head against the wall. “Don’t shake your head at me like that. I’ll kill you.” The anger was only there for a flash second before melting into that same happy expression once again, warmth in those eyes and in the way the smile would tug at his cheeks. “Now, Shou-chan. It’s about time we reconciled, don’t you think?”

      “Inmates, what’s going on here?”

      Towada was watching the duo with disdain in his eyes. Takeru hastily let Hinata’s throat go and whipped around to regard the C.O. with a sunny smile on his face. Hinata practically fell to his knees, taking in hiccupping gasps of breath as his chest heaved up and down.

      “Just some friendly conversation, sir!” There was heavy sarcasm in Takeru’s tone, but Towada didn’t quite seem to have caught the sarcasm. If anything, Towada seemed pleased that Takeru had addressed him as ‘sir’.

      “Alright, then. Continue,” Towada said, nodding once before walking away from the two, leaving Hinata solely in Takeru’s hands. Hinata might’ve screamed for Towada to help. He might’ve screamed for someone — no, anyone — to help. But he could still feel the hand around his throat and the cage that was beginning to form around his heart once more. He could feel everything beginning to crash down on him, and this time, Kageyama wasn’t here to be his roof.

      Hinata either would have to learn to defend himself, or end up being killed. At this point, he couldn’t tell which option was the best.


	5. Song of Solomon

Chapter Five: Song of Solomon

      Kageyama was the first to walk into the chapel. There were some Bibles lying about, but there was one right by the altar which had been opened to a specific page. Kageyama lifted it up and read it curiously, his eyes glued to a certain verse.

**"Like an apple tree among the trees of the forest is my beloved among the young men. I delight to sit in his shade, and his fruit is sweet to my taste" — Song of Solomon 2:3**

      He was about to place the Bible onto the altar itself, but then he realised that it might’ve not been such a good idea. The cloth was stained with some sort of liquid — Kageyama didn’t even want to know what it was, although he had a good idea of what it was — and he could practically small the depravity coming off of it.

      “Jesus Christ,” he muttered to himself, placing the Bible on the floor and turning to face the door. Tsukishima and Kuroo were the first to come through, arms linked and smirks unified. The rest of Nekoma followed through, then Karasuno. It wasn’t long before the chapel was full with all nineteen members and the doors were shut.

      “It smells like sex in here,” Yaku muttered, looking around himself.

      “Oh, Yakkun. You might not want to sit on that bench,” Kuroo warned. At first, Yaku looked confused by Kuroo’s warning but then realisation dawned on him.

      “ _Oh_. You two are disgusting.” Yaku wrinkled his nose and went to sit on the bench in front instead. His remark was met with laughter from both Kuroo and Tsukishima. Yaku rolled his eyes, but said nothing more.

      “Everyone,” Kageyama finally began to say. “I trust you all know what happened yesterday.”

      “Yes.” Everyone in the room nodded.

      “I was able to save the situation that time, but there’s a genuine issue here. Towada is doing his best to take me down, and there’s nothing that’s going to stop him. I’m sure you’re all aware of this, but I can’t do anything to Towada or his family. I’m too weak by myself and I don’t have any connections that can take out his family. Japan’s police force got every single last one of them.” Kageyama was beginning to pace around the room as the words fell from his lips. “I thought Towada was just a joker. That was my mistake. He’s a problem.”

       The way the word _problem_ left Kageyama’s lips seemed to make the light in the room just that bit dimmer, as if it were scared of Kageyama.

      “I have a proposition,” Kuroo drawled. “You know how many people are desperate to become honorary members of Nekoma or Karasuno? Make a deal. Towada’s head in exchange for the status of honorary member.”

      “We’re not killing him.”

      Kuroo raised an eyebrow. “Why not? You had no problems with that shit on the outside.”

      “That was on the outside,” Kageyama impatiently clarified. “This is the inside. If Towada gets killed, I’ll get the blame for it. Even if I wasn’t there. They’ll spin some story about me influencing his death and they’ll put me in max. And even if I don’t go down for it, you don’t think they’ll put someone else in his place? He’s just a novice with pathetic, oh-so-honourable intentions, a novice that doesn’t realise he’s just as trashy as the lowest of the low in this place.”

      “We know that,” Yaku interjected. “Dwelling on it won’t do anything. We need a plan.”

      “Why do you think we’re here?” Yaku wisely shut up when he saw the look that Kageyama was giving him. “So far, he’s been leading more surprise inspections. Taketora, can you tell me how contraband’s been going this week?”

      The head cook stood up and cleared his throat. “Well, Towada himself has been coming into the kitchen and trying to find contraband. He didn’t find any, but this morning he went to the delivery truck himself and took the food. I didn’t have much coming in today, but he managed to get some magazines, earphones and condoms. That’s all.” Yamamoto looked down at his hands, up at Kageyama. “It’s dangerous to bring in contraband right now. You know that Towada won’t overlook something like that. He could get me kicked out of the kitchen.”

      “I won’t allow that,” Kageyama said darkly. “I’m still in charge.”

      “Yeah, but how long will that last? You got stamped on in front of the entire prison yesterday. With all due respect… I think you’re losing your touch, Kageyama.”

      Kageyama walked right up to Yamamoto, looked him straight in the eyes. “What did you just say?”

      “You’re losing your touch.” Yamamoto held his gaze stubbornly, trying to hide the fact that he was trembling slightly. It was a few moments before Kageyama backed off with an even darker glare on his face.

      “Well, Taketora. How do you suggest that I prove otherwise?”

      “Get rid of Towada. That’s the only way.”

      Kageyama looked at the rest of the group. None of them seemed to have any complaints or queries about what Yamamoto was saying. “I can’t just get rid of him,” Kageyama said at last, exasperated.

      “But you’ve always gotten rid of everyone who double-crosses you. Kindaichi, Kunimi, that Izaki guy from the Johzenji… what’s one more name?”

      It was unusual for Yamamoto to be so bold towards Kageyama, but it seemed like today was his day. Not just Yamamoto, but other people in general. They weren’t being as respectful as they had once been. Before, everyone had always approached him with care, always made sure to be respectful. But now that people were openly disagreeing with him and arguing with him… Kageyama’s blood was boiling. And it was boiling hot.

      “He’s a C.O.,” Kageyama quietly reminded Yamamoto. “I don’t make C.Os disappear. If it’s so fucking easy, then why don’t you make him disappear?”

      “I can’t do that,” Yamamoto responded after a pause.

      “So, why should I be able to do that?” When Yamamoto didn’t respond, Kageyama continued to speak. “You need to stop with this whole mentality of _Kageyama’s invincible, he can do any-fucking-thing_! Not just you, but all of you. I am fucking human. I can’t make people disappear whenever I choose. So, unless you have any concrete plans on how to make Towada get the hell out of this place, _stop fucking telling me to make him disappear_.”

      Yamamoto sank back onto the bench he’d been sitting on, any previous confidence completely drained. He’d been once again reminded of just how scary Kageyama Tobio was. Clearly, so had everyone else. Their faces had become more serious, even Tsukishima and Kuroo’s. Kuroo had to admit, he was slightly scared himself, knowing damn well that the entire group would ostracise him if it ever came to light that he himself wanted to take Kageyama down. But _they wouldn’t find out_. He wouldn’t let them.

      “We’re putting a temporary hold on contraband until we find an effective solution,” Kageyama continued, having regained his composure. “All of you, try to hold onto your ramen and chocolate bars. They’ll become worth more the longer it goes on. Next, try to have sex in normal places. You know, places where C.Os won’t come across you and use it as grounds to cause trouble?” This time, it was pointed at Kuroo and Tsukishima, the only couple in the room. Tsukishima flushed a deep red while Kuroo simply had that same lazy smirk on his face.

      “Next, we need to make our presence stronger than ever. Remind everyone what happens if they speak out against us, especially the Shiratorizawans. But we need to avoid any big-scale riots. Towada will use it as a reason to put us in max. If we go to max, Warden won’t be able to protect us.” Everyone nodded. They were all listening intently. Things like this had never been a worry, but with Towada’s presence… this was becoming more important than ever. “Also, I’m sure this is obvious, but there’s only room for us at the top. Nobody else can get in. Nobody.”

      “Wait, Kageyama. You’re forgetting something,” Suga pointed out. “We can do all this, but you know that Towada’s got a plan too? He’s slowly starting to bring in more and more C.Os. He’s not hitting us directly, but he’s going for the other dorms. They sent another one of the Johzenji to max for having weed—”

      “—they shouldn’t have weed,” Kageyama rudely interrupted. “It’s fucking prison, not stoner centre.”

      “By that logic, you shouldn’t have cigarettes. _It’s fucking prison, not cancer centre_ ,” Suga teased, even grinning after the sentence. Everyone knew that Suga was the only man alive who could get away with teasing Kageyama in such a manner. If it was anyone else, they’d be lying in their own blood right about now. Kageyama rolled his eyes, but didn’t admonish Suga for his words. “My point is, if they can’t hit us directly, they’re going to keep hitting those who aren’t protected by us until they all turn against us. We’re only strong because nobody wants to get on our bad side, but what happens when Towada turns them all against us? Suddenly, we’re just a group of nineteen people who can’t do shit against hundreds.”

      Kageyama might’ve disputed the point, but he shut his mouth and really thought about it, realising that Suga had made a good point. There were definitely people who hated how Karasuno and Nekoma had all the privileges, the comfortable beds, the best showers and the best food, but they tolerated it because it was better than ending up in max by a strange turn of events (no doubt influenced by Kageyama himself). But, if Towada came and gave all of these same people an opportunity to take Karasuno down… there was no telling what would happen.

      “Instead of trying to quell the problem, make it so that it works out in your favour,” Suga explained. “Towada wants to beat you. You know things about his staff. You know things about Towada. I wish I could’ve seen their faces when you started spilling their secrets.” Suga let out a snort of laughter at the very thought of it.

      “Knowledge doesn’t always beat strength, though.”

      Suga nodded. “That’s true. But think about it. This is where Ennoshita comes in useful. You get him to go and tell everyone just what the C.Os like to do in their spare time. Give it a day and they won’t be here to bother us anymore—”

      “I said no killing.”

      Suga smirked. “Oh, they won’t die. They’ll just be hurt. Not only in their wallets, but in their pride. Let Ennoshita work his magic and the prison will do the rest for you.”

      “It works with me,” Ennoshita said, shrugging his shoulders. “I can tell the right people. You know, if we just make it so that they’re too scared to oppose you but not scared enough to quit their jobs, we can keep going on as usual.”

      “It’s a good plan,” Tsukishima admitted. “You’ve got knowledge, so you might as well do something with that knowledge.” Kuroo nodded in agreement.

      “It’s decided then! I, Sugawara Koushi, hereby implement—”

      Kageyama’s glare deepened. “Who made you the leader?”

      “Don’t disrespect your prison mother,” Suga scolded, flicking Kageyama’s forehead. “Now—”

      “ _Who made you my prison mother_?!”

      Suga grinned. “My motherly instinct can’t be disputed. Right, guys?”

      Everyone looked from Kageyama to Sugawara before slowly nodding in agreement. It was true, Suga was every bit as motherly as they would’ve liked their own mothers to be. Kageyama folded his arms, clearly irritated by the unanimous decision, but he didn’t interrupt Suga any further. With a clear plan in mind, the Karasuno and Nekoma alliance continued to discuss. They weren’t going to let Towada take their hard-earned reputations. No way in hell.


	6. Aida Riko, Executive Warden

Chapter Six: Aida Riko, Executive Warden

      The weekend went by as usual (although there were some very disgruntled Christians come the Sunday chapel service) and life in the dorms carried on without disruption. Kageyama smoked his menthol cigarettes (although, since Yamamoto wouldn’t be able to bring him any more, he was trying his best to limit himself. In case you’re wondering, he’s failing miserably) and Tsukishima spent time with Kuroo on a regular basis. Hinata tried to hide from Takeru (often failing) and Towada broke up brawls amongst the Mukankei on the regular, although he was somehow able to overlook what Takeru did to Hinata.

      Once Monday hit the prison, there was a new face amongst the sea of beige and orange uniforms. A feminine face. One inmate made the mistake of leering at her, only to end up being slapped so hard he almost ended up with whiplash. He ended up spending the rest of his day in medical. The inmates watched her with curiosity in her eyes as she walked, although she didn’t seem to take heed of the attention she was receiving. She walked into the staffroom, where the C.Os and Towada were waiting.

      “I’m Aida Riko, the new executive warden. From now on, all decisions go through me. You want to throw an inmate in max? It goes through me. You want to call in reinforcements? Again, it goes through me. Oh, and you want to beat an inmate up in front of the entire prison? _It goes through me_.” Although Aida had an innocent look about her with her soft features and hazelnut locks which reached down to her chin, she was anything but. “Is everyone clear on that?”

      Towada gritted his teeth together, but nodded. Warden had made it clear that her orders were to be followed. He couldn’t undermine Warden, not again. _But being led by some female? What is this?_

      “Now, when I came through, I noticed the lack of cameras. Why is that?”

      “It’s a violation of privacy,” one of the C.Os explained.

      “It’s not cost-efficient to place cameras everywhere,” another reasoned. “The inmates would only break them and turn them into weapons, on top of the privacy reason.”

      “Privacy.” Aida scoffed. “No, it’s laziness. I want cameras up in every hall and every corridor. The amount of brawls and knife fights that break out here are ridiculous. Say, how many C.Os are out on watch right now?” There was a silence in which the C.Os all looked to each other. Sensing the awkward atmosphere, Aida’s eyes widened. “Don’t tell me you’ve got no C.Os out.”

      Towada shrugged. “It doesn’t make a difference.”

      She opened the door, shot a dark glare at the C.Os who were sitting down. “Three on the outside, seven patrolling around the seven dorms and another three walking the corridors on the inside. I want another two of you in the cafeteria too. You and you,” she said, pointing at Ushijima and Aone. “Cafeteria.” They didn’t hesitate to move, scrambling out until the desired numbers had been reached. Suddenly, the staffroom felt a lot emptier.

      “You can’t just order my men around.”

      Aida stepped forward, eyes growing sharp as she raised an eyebrow at the dark-haired correctional officer. “Is there a problem, Towada?”

      _I’ve never wanted to hit a woman so badly_ , Towada thought as he gritted his teeth once more and shook his head. “Nope. Everything’s fine.”

      “Good. Now, since you’ve all been doing a piss-poor job of keeping these inmates in line, it’s about time we made some changes.” Aida could barely believe it. In a place which was housing some of the most dangerous criminals out there, people like Tsukishima Kei and Kageyama Tobio, it was unbelievable just how bad these people were at keeping them in line. It was no wonder they’d called her in. Aida had been reluctant to accept the job at first, since she hadn’t had much experience in working in a prison environment. However, her father had been a warden and he would often bring Aida along whenever he could. It was there that Aida honed her ‘Analyser Eye’, a skill which allowed her to see people’s stats (and to some extent, just how dangerous they were). Now, it was going to be even more useful than ever. Her eye was telling her that Towada was no better than the inmates.

      “Before you accuse us of doing a piss-poor job, I suggest you go and ask Warden about Kageyama Tobio. We can’t do anything because of him,” Oyasu angrily interjected. “He’s threatening our families.”

      Aida let out another snort of laughter. “And you think he can do anything to your families from the inside?”

      “He’s Kageyama Tobio!”

      The woman shook her head at the C.Os who were all staring back at her in disbelief. “No, he’s an inmate. The only reason he has the power to do that is because you’re giving him a name. They’re inmates. They are nothing more than inmates. They will be treated like inmates, and nothing more.”

      “I’d like to see you try it, you bitch,” Towada said at last, no longer unable to remain quiet. “God, you women, you act like you know everything…”

      Aida simply scoffed. “And you men, you’ll make fun of women and then take credit for their accomplishments. It’s nothing new.” Her face remained serious, her stance firm as she looked from Towada to Oyasu. “First of all, you’re fired.”

      Oyasu’s eyes widened. “W…What?”

      “I have no need for correctional officers who would willingly solicit child pornography. Out you go,” Aida sang, holding the door open for him. She wasn’t going to mention that the best members of Japan’s police force were waiting for him outside. “Towada, I wouldn’t be wrong in letting you go too. Your background checking was quite scrappy, huh?”

      Towada clenched his fists by his sides, his glare deepening. This bitch was going to ruin his chance to take Kageyama down. What was Warden thinking with bringing a woman into a place like this, for God’s sake? Was he in his right mind?

      Oyasu reluctantly walked out through the door with a sad expression on his face, most likely at the fact that he no longer had a source of income for his family of two. Aida shut the door behind him and turned her attention on to the remaining C.Os.

      “Things are going to change around here. You’re all going to receive proper training, proper riot kit and you’re going to learn how to act like proper correctional officers. If you can’t take that, then leave. Right now.”

      Nobody moved. Aida waited exactly two minutes, giving everyone a chance to consider. There was one guy who stepped towards the door, but as if rethinking his decision, he stepped back once again. But Aida didn’t miss that subtle movement.

      “You.” She pointed at the man who had dared to move his feet. “You’re out. I don’t need people who would dare to hesitate.”

      Again, the door was opened and another C.O. was sent out in disgrace. Towada could hardly believe his eyes. Sure, Kageyama was still his enemy. But, for now, Towada was going to call a temporary hiatus on his hate for Kageyama and focus on getting rid of Aida. It didn’t matter if she was working towards the same goal he was. He didn’t like her.

      “Now, forgive me, but I’m going to need a detailed list on any inmates that we might need to keep an eye on, along with brief explanations as to why. I want people who’ve been to the SHU before, people with high shot counts and anyone that’s come down from max. Towada, I’m trusting you to put it together since you’re so wise.” While Towada was a bit of an airhead who didn’t understand sarcasm nine out of ten times, he could definitely feel Aida’s condescension this time round.

      “Sure thing.” He forced a smile onto his face. “It’ll be on your desk by tomorrow morning.”

      “Do you really work that slow? I want it on my desk by six.” It was currently a few minutes past twelve o’clock.

      “I’m not a miracle worker,” Towada calmly said in an attempt to quell his rage, which was steadily increasing. “Tomorrow morning’s the best I can do.”

      “In that case, are you really fit to be head C.O.? I’d expect someone in your position to be more versatile. Hmm… I’ll have to talk to Ukai about that…”

      “No,” Towada said at last, speaking through a clenched jaw. “It’s fine. I can do it.” Towada was currently envisioning all the ways he’d like to get rid of her. All of them involved him vanquishing Kageyama along the way. He was the valiant knight, armour with the sword and a gilded shield. That bitch would be the Level 1 monster that could be defeated with a few strikes, while Kageyama Tobio was the Level 100 monster he’d have to beat down over a long period of time in order to save the princess. That princess was his imminent victory, and he’d be damned if he didn’t get to hold her in his hands anytime soon.

      “Ah, really? That’s great.” Aida smiled and turned towards the door, but not before looking over her shoulder. “Also, make sure you mention Kageyama in that list. Ukai mentioned him to me, but I’d like a bit more information on the role he plays and why. Get the help of some of the veteran C.Os too, please.”

      Before Towada could respond, Aida walked out of the room, letting the door shut behind her. It was then that Towada unclenched his fists, hissing “Bitch” to himself as he stomped off towards the coffee machine and poured himself a mug. He was going to need the strength, even if the coffee tasted like ground-up bricks and earthworms put together.

      “Well… at least she’s cute,” one C.O. said.

***

      It was Tuesday morning when Aida herself decided to conduct the surprise square searches, flanked by a whole load of C.Os.

      “Inmates, line up!”

      She was like a military leader in the way she burst through, eyes sharp and calculating as she used her Analyser Eye to make notes on all the inmates she saw. There was the banner on the wall which read ‘Johzenji’. There was also the lingering smell of weed in the dorm. Aida wrinkled her nose, but she didn’t say anything. If there was anything, she’d find it. She looked at each inmate, seeing if any of them had been on the list Towada had so dutifully written up for her. Terushima had been on that list, titled as the ‘leader of the Johzenji’. There didn’t seem to be anyone else of note, although Bobata had quite a high shot count, mainly for things like neglecting to do work around the prison or having contraband in his bunk.

      “You got a name?” Terushima rose an eyebrow at Aida.

      “Silence, inmate.” Aida turned her attention to the C.Os who were waiting for orders. “Search the squares. Don’t leave any shoe unturned.”

      The C.Os nodded and rushed into the squares, searching dutifully. The C.Os returned from their squares one by one, empty-handed, but the last C.O. was still searching on Hinata’s side of the square. Hinata, for once, wasn’t scared. He didn’t have anything worth taking. Even so, that didn’t stop the C.O. from yelling out “I’ve got something!”

      Aida walked into the square and looked to the C.O. with an inquisitive look. “What is it?”

      “A shank.”

      At this revelation, everyone’s eyes widened. Terushima’s eyes went straight to Hinata. The shank had been found underneath his futon.

      “I… It’s not mine…” Hinata’s face grew deathly pale as he stared at the weapon, unable to believe what he was seeing. He knew exactly who that shank belonged to. It was the same shank that had been held against his neck when he’d refused to go to the storage room with Takeru. The very same shank.

      “Yeah, it’s never anyone’s, is it?” Aida shook her head and began to walk out of the room. “Take him to the SHU.”

      “Wait, lady! Hinata’s not the kind of person to own something like that…” Terushima clenched his fists in frustration as he watched the C.Os take Hinata away. “It’s not his!”

      Aida turned around, raised an eyebrow at Terushima. “Is it yours?”

      There was a silence. It wasn’t his. Weapons were for wimps, in Terushima’s opinion. It was much cooler to beat people up through brute force rather than sniping at them from a distance like a certain cowardly someone he knew. But, Terushima also knew that it wasn’t Hinata’s. Hinata couldn’t use a weapon to save his life.

      “Yes,” Terushima said, stepping forwards. “It’s mine.”

      “No, it’s not. If you’re trying to look cool by taking the fall for it, I’ll tell you now. That’ll play against you in the future.” Aida looked from Hinata’s stats to Terushima’s. Hinata’s stats indicated that he was good with weapons (his agility and speed were off the charts) whereas Terushima’s stats indicated that he didn’t know _shit_ about handling shanks. Judging by his strength stats, he appeared to be a hand-to-hand combat person. She would’ve started mentioning the stats to the inmates, but she knew that it wouldn’t make sense to anyone but herself. So, she settled for taking Hinata away without another word to anyone else.

      It just so happened that they ran into Kageyama, who was coming back inside from his usual morning smoke. He noticed the new face first. The C.Os. And then, Hinata, who was being held up by said C.Os. “What’s happening here?” he demanded, standing up straight and looking at Aida. “And who are you?”

      Aida wrinkled her nose at the smell of cigarettes. The pungent smoke practically covered Kageyama’s body like a blanket. It was ridiculous. She just didn’t understand why people ruined their bodies with all those damn cancer sticks. But even more so, she didn’t understand why those incompetent C.Os were allowing the inmates to smoke. There’s the Johzenji with their weed and now the Karasuno leader with his cigarettes. It was ridiculous.

      “Inmate, don’t address me like that.”

      Kageyama sighed. “Alright, so you’re one of the new ones. Well, listen. I’m Kageyama Tobio and—”

      “No, you’re an inmate. Now, out of the way.”

      Kageyama gritted his teeth together. “Excuse me?”

      “Aida-san,” one of the C.Os hissed. “You shouldn’t provoke him.”

      Aida clearly didn’t care for the C.O’s warning, since she continued to push.

      “That’s one shot for you. It’s another if you continue to disregard my orders,” Aida said. Kageyama looked down at Hinata, who seemed very much resigned to his fate. He remembered very well what had happened last time Hinata had been sent down to the SHU. He’d rather let himself go down than watch Hinata go down there again.

      “You’re not taking him to the SHU.” Kageyama stepped forward, looked Aida straight in the eye. “Now, what has he done that warrants this sort of treatment?”

      “I said, you’re an inmate—”

      “If I’m an inmate, what does that make you?” Kageyama smirked, even went as far as to flick Aida’s nose. “Better than me? I really hope that’s what you’re thinking. It’ll make taking you down even more fun.”

      Aida stepped back. “Don’t touch me, inmate. That’s another shot.”

      “Your men are touching him,” Kageyama pointed out. “Wouldn’t that equate shots for those C.Os? Hmm?” Before Aida could respond, the lighthearted tone disappeared from Kageyama’s voice. “I don’t care who you are. You’re going to let him go, otherwise I’ll just have to find out who you are. And when I do, it’s not going to be any good for you.”

      “So, Kageyama. You want me to let an inmate go after he’s been keeping weapons under his bed—”

      “It’s not mine,” Hinata snarled, still looking down at the ground. “It’s not.” He didn’t want Kageyama to think that he’d throw himself into danger so readily. Even now, Kageyama was still having to save him like this. He was pathetic. He couldn’t even protect himself the way Kageyama did. He always had to rely on some knight in shining armour to come and save him.

      “First of all, that’s the Johzenji. They’re not known for weapons,” Kageyama coolly remarked. “In the seven years I’ve been here, they’ve never once been seen with weapons. They have remarkable physical strength and martial arts skills which would render any possible weapons useless. If anything, they’re just a bunch of potheads who like to start fights occasionally.”

      “And why should I take your word for it?”

      Kageyama chuckled, although it was a chuckle without mirth. “This is my prison. I see everything that happens. I am the ubiquitous ruler. I am the one who protects. I am the one who saves. I won’t allow the likes of you to come and tear my prison apart.”

      Aida couldn’t deny it — she was shocked. Hearing his voice, she could’ve genuinely believed that Kageyama was the true warden of the prison. But then she’d look down and see that he was in the standard prison uniform. The thing that shocked Aida the most was that Kageyama was being completely serious. Talking about ‘protecting’ and ‘saving’ when he had one of the biggest body counts in the entire prison… Aida definitely sensed a bit of a god complex here. But, she wasn’t getting paid to be a psychologist. She was getting paid to keep Kageyama’s ass in line.

      “Allow me to reintroduce myself,” Kageyama continued, knowing that he had now regained control over the situation. “I’m Kageyama Tobio, the one who sits at the same table as the warden. I’m the one who controls everything that goes on in here. Contraband, gangs, food. I control it all. These displays you see on the wall? I put them there. That coffee machine in the staffroom? I put that there. The weights room? Again, I put that there. Everything you see is a product of my efforts.” He touched a hand to one C.O’s shoulder, and then the other hand to yet another shoulder. “Now, you’re going to do what I say and let him go. Not just for my sake, but for yours. If you want to find out who that shank really belongs to, try Mukankei Ni. They’re known for their weaponry.”

      The C.Os flinched away from his touch and let Hinata go before Aida could even give the order. Aida was frustrated by the C.Os’ cowardice, but there was nothing that could be done. She simply sighed and turned her attention to Kageyama, who wasn’t even looking at her anymore. His attention was on Hinata. When she noticed the way Kageyama’s pupils dilated as he looked at Hinata, she realised why Kageyama, the most important inmate in the prison, had willingly accepted two shots just to stop Hinata, who was more or less a nobody, from going to max. It looked like Kageyama had a weakness. A weakness that she could exploit.

      “We’ll be meeting again, inmate.”

      “Sure.” Kageyama waved as the brunette began to walk away. “Good luck finding the shankster, Riko-san.” She froze when she heard the sound of her given name leaving Kageyama’s lips.

      How does Kageyama know her name?

      The only people who knew her name were the C.Os, and Aida was positive that none of them would dare tell an inmate that kind of information. She wanted nothing more than to turn and ask Kageyama how he knew. But, she knew she didn’t have the time — the C.Os were moving ahead and she had to keep on following them. She couldn’t falter, otherwise Kageyama Tobio would sneak up on her and swallow her up like he had every other person who had dared to try and oppose him.

      With a deep sigh, she hurried ahead, leaving Kageyama and Hinata to have their little moment together.

      Hinata looked up at Kageyama, somewhat lost for words as he opened and closed his mouth every so often. He was pretty sure he looked like a fish gaping for water. Meanwhile, Kageyama could feel the warmth beginning to claw at his heart and he hated himself for it. He couldn’t quite forget about his feelings. Right after telling his men to avoid making scenes, he went and started drama with Aida. He knew that she’d most likely figured out that Hinata was a weakness of his. But, Kageyama couldn’t stand by and watch Hinata go to the SHU again. No way.

      After the two stared at one another for what felt like an age, Kageyama finally realised that he needed to get back to his dorm. He’d forgotten about everything else after seeing Hinata, as cliché as it sounded. He looked away at last and began to walk to his dorm, only for Hinata to dash in front of him and hold a hand out to stop him from leaving.

      “Wait.”

      The halls were empty, since most people had already made their way to the cafeteria. It was just Hinata, Kageyama and a C.O. who was watching the two from some obscure corner.

      “I’m waiting,” Kageyama said with that same serious expression, although by now, Hinata could tell that it was an attempt at being somewhat teasing. Or at least, he hoped it was. He wasn’t sure if he could even interpret emotions anymore.

      “You… you know, the weapon wasn’t mine.”

      “I know that. But you know whose weapon it was, don’t you?”

      Hinata’s face scrunched up as he considered his options. He could tell Kageyama the truth and put both himself and Kageyama in danger, or he could tell Kageyama a lie and keep Kageyama out of danger. And perhaps, it would keep Hinata out of danger since he wouldn’t be branded a snitch. Then again, when it came to Takeru, there was no such thing as safety. There was danger, and more danger.

      “I have no idea,” he said at last.

      The look Kageyama gave Hinata was clearly saying that he didn’t believe him. But, he didn’t argue the point.

      “That’s okay.” Kageyama turned on his heel and began to walk away, a clear sign that he wanted to end the conversation. In all honesty, Kageyama just didn’t have the energy to argue with Hinata anymore. He’d help Hinata if he needed it, but he couldn’t keep forcing Hinata to tell him the truth. He didn’t want to give up. But… he needed to stop being so attached if he wanted to remain at the top.

      “Hey, Tobio,” Suga said, rushing out from the direction of the cafeteria and seizing Kageyama’s wrist. “You’re coming to breakfast.”

      “But I want to shower,” Kageyama muttered.

      “Then you can shower with a full stomach after eating,” Suga insisted, letting Kageyama know that it wasn’t up for debate. Kageyama groaned, but allowed himself to be pulled into the cafeteria and over to the Karasuno table, where there was already a bowl of tamago gohan waiting for him. He wasn’t too fond of the breakfast dish (he personally preferred pancakes) but just to appease Suga, he’d clear the entire plate and drink his milk. After all, he really wanted to take that damn shower.


	7. The Leader of Mukankei Ni

Chapter Seven: The Leader of Mukankei Ni

      When Hinata felt hands pulling him out of the flow of inmates and into a storage closet, he wasn’t even surprised anymore. He was face-to-face with Takeru, who had an unusually sinister look on his face. A smile which tugged at his lips unnaturally, a glint in his eyes which was so sharp it could’ve cut the tension in this damn closet and of course, the vampire tooth which poked out from parted lips as he spoke.

      “So, that Kageyama really is just as powerful as I thought.”

      “Why… why did you put the shank there?”

      The Wakunan leader grinned. “I was testing that king’s strength. Don’t worry, I had eyes on you two. I paid off some C.O. to be my eyes in this place. Soon, they’ll be all in my ranks.”

      Hinata could feel a slight inkling of fear beginning to seep its way into his bloodstream, making him feel lightheaded and nauseated. “W…What do you mean?”

      Suddenly, Takeru’s expression grew darker as he pushed a rough hand against Hinata’s chest, practically throwing the man up against the wall. “I’m becoming number one, Shou-chan. That’s what the fuck I mean, alright? And I know how you looked at that damn king… say, how do you think that makes me feel?”

      “I… I’m not doing anything with him—”

      “Don’t fucking lie to me, Shou-chan!” Takeru didn’t hesitate to slap Hinata across the face. Before, he’d avoided doing anything that would leave any visible marks, but right now that didn’t matter. His Shou-chan wasn’t going to lie to him like that and get away with it. Not a snowball’s chance in hell.

      “I’m not!” The tears were threatening to leak from Hinata’s eyes, salty tears which would stream down his face and stain his overly-starched prison uniform.

      “Liars always insist they’re not lying,” Takeru snarled, still keeping Hinata anchored to the wall with one hand. Even though Hinata had been keeping his strength up with the help of the newly-stocked weights room and his track running, Takeru had probably been doing ten times what Hinata had. He was strong, so much stronger than Hinata. “Say, why is it that the king hasn’t been assassinated yet?”

      When Hinata didn’t respond, he was subjected to yet another slap across the face.

      “I asked you a question, Shou-chan. _Answer me_.”

      “He’s strong,” Hinata whimpered at last.

      _He’s gentle_ , Hinata thought, thinking about the time Kageyama had made him ramen and taught him how to use chopsticks. _He’s caring_. All those times Kageyama had dashed forwards to protect him, even when he didn’t deserve it all that much. _He loves me_. Those words were still in that notebook that Hinata held dear to him. Thankfully, Takeru hadn’t gotten his hands on that notebook, but if he did… he really would have to fear for both Kageyama’s life and his own.

      “Why is he strong?”

      When he received no further response from Hinata, Takeru slapped him. Again. Hinata let out a pained groan, shutting his eyes as the tears began to trickle past, collecting in his eyelashes and dripping onto his cheeks.

      “Don’t pretend that you don’t know. I know that you get the high-quality food in the cafeteria, I know that those Karasuno fuckers are friendly with you and I know that there’s a reason you ended up in the Johzenji dorm instead of the shitty Mukankei dorms, alright? He influenced that. So, I’ll ask you again, Shou-chan. Why is he strong?”

      “He’s surrounded by people that are really strong, like Tanaka and Tsukishima.”

      Takeru nodded, seemingly satisfied by his answer. “Even so, shouldn’t the hundreds in the Mukankei dorms be able to overpower Karasuno and Nekoma if they combined their numbers?”

      “Yes,” Hinata hastily responded when he became aware of Takeru’s palm growing close to his face. “They should.”

      “So, why is it that they haven’t?”

      “They’re scared.”

      Takeru nodded in satisfaction. “That’s right. They’re scared of the elite. So, Shou-chan. How do you defeat that?”

      “I… I don’t know.”

      “The answer’s right in front of you. They’re scared of the elite. _How do you get rid of the fear_?”

      “Y…You?” squeaked Hinata.

      Takeru chuckled this time. “Perhaps. All I have to do is get rid of the root problem. The elite. And my dear Shou-chan, that’s where you’re going to come in.”

      At first, Hinata didn’t realise what Takeru was implying. But then, realisation dawned on him. “No. I can’t.”

      Hinata began to struggle in Takeru’s grasp. He needed to get to Kageyama. He needed to warn Kageyama. It was then that he knew that he should’ve told Kageyama; it was then that he knew for sure that lying to Kageyama was the wrong choice to make. But, he’d realised it too late. Takeru was already landing blows on his body, knowing that he couldn’t fight back. He just couldn’t. He was so pathetic, lifting all those weights and running all those laps when he couldn’t even fight off one man who was barely his height. He was ridiculous.

      Pathetic.

      It was no wonder that Takeru chose to use him.

      He was so **pathetic**

      So utterly **pathetic** that he couldn’t even defend himself.

      Couldn’t fight back. Couldn’t hit back.

      All he could do, like a damsel in distress, is lie there and wait for someone to save him.

      “How pathetic,” Takeru sneered at last, dusting his hands off before leaving a fatigued, bruised and emotionally broken Hinata on the ground.

***

      When Tsukishima and Kuroo made their way to the gardens as usual, they were stopped by Kageyama, who had previously been lurking beneath the shadows. Unsurprisingly enough, they were pretty shocked by Kageyama’s sudden appearance. They didn’t have time to talk about it though; Kageyama had a genuine request to make.

      “Keep an eye on Hinata while he’s in the garden,” Kageyama ordered. “It’s not for my own interest. It’s for everyone else’s.”

      While Kageyama didn’t doubt for a minute that Hinata could defend himself against Takeru, he still wasn’t sure of the situation between the two. He didn’t have any concrete facts. All Kageyama knew right now was that Takeru seemed to have hard feelings towards Hinata and that he wanted to take the top for himself.

      “Sure thing,” Kuroo drawled. “Do you want us to make notes on behaviour, or…”

      “Just his demeanour in general. If he says or does anything strange, or if he gets approached by anyone, I want to hear about it.”

      The two nodded.

      “Sure,” Tsukishima replied. “Are you sure it’s in everyone’s interest, though?”

      “Someone planted a shank in his square. He almost got taken to the SHU for it,” Kageyama explained. “I managed to get him out of it, but there’s a new executive warden. Aida Riko. If Towada made life irritating, Aida’s going to make life tough. I might not be able to get him out of trouble the second time around.”

      “They’re really trying to take us down, huh?” Tsukishima snorted. “Alright. It’ll be done. Although, can we have some of that Gun Gun yoghurt in exchange? Movie night’s coming up.”

      Kageyama shrugged. “Sure.”

      The couple began to walk on over to the garden, while Kageyama made his way over to the sheds and began to smoke. He’d felt that C.O’s eyes on him earlier, _watching_ him. For once, Ennoshita’s countless notebooks might just come in use. Kageyama really didn’t like having to go down into the laundry area — the lighting was dim, it smelt like old gym socks and washing machines could constantly be heard creaking away — but he would have to if he wanted to figure out just what was going on in this prison.

***

      “Takeru? Ah, he’s been making quite the splash recently,” Ennoshita said. “I don’t know much about what’s been happening in the Mukankei dorms, but he apparently proclaimed himself the leader of Mukankei Ni. You know, they’re the capital dorm for weaponry and all things violence…”

      “Ennoshita, how likely is it that Mukankei Ni are planning to rise against us?”

      The aspiring director thought for a moment, turned to slam a washing machine door shut and then turned back, having decided at last. “There’s a fifty-eight percent chance, based on what I’ve heard from Shiratorizawa. Then again, the stats came from Kawanishi and he didn’t go to school for maths, if you know what I mean—”

      “Ennoshita.”

      “Okay, okay. Sorry. If anyone from Karasuno or Nekoma has a disastrous altercation with any of them, most notably Takeru, that will become an eighty-nine percent chance. They’re most likely waiting for a chance to strike, a weak spot. But these stats aren’t definite,” Ennoshita reminded him once more when he noticed the regretful expression on Kageyama’s face. “They’re just guidelines for how bad shit could potentially get.”

      “Even a one percent chance would be too high, never mind eighty-nine,” Kageyama said at last, realising that it was more or less certain that someone would need to go down if he wanted to remain at the top. He’d intended to get through this without any deaths, but it was beginning to seem more and more unlikely as time went by.

      “Well, do I have news for you! If you can somehow take Takeru down, that number will go down to a mere five percent,” Ennoshita said, dropping his tone when he noticed some people walking nearby. “Of course, I know that’s pretty difficult and it might end up with us having to fight against the Mukankei, but if you see any openings whatsoever… take them. We need Takeru gone.”

      “Alright. I can’t make it happen just yet, but for now, I’ll make the necessary arrangements,” Kageyama said, turning to walk away from Ennoshita. “Also… make sure you use that lavender fabric softener with my clothes.”

      “Sure thing, Boss.”

      Kageyama’s exterior was cool, but on the inside he felt as if he really were having a meltdown. For the first time in his life, he’d found someone who could match his power. A rival. Takeru was that rival. They both wanted the same things, both had a sense of authority about them and they both wanted to see the other dead.

      “I need a smoke,” he muttered at last, completely forgetting that he’d already had his morning smoke. It didn’t matter. He’d smoke as many cigarettes as it took until he came up with a plan which could actually work.

***

      Compared to the bustle and hustle that had went on over the weekend, the weekdays remained uncharacteristically quiet. Some may have mistaken it as the trouble having quelled down at last, but Kageyama knew damn well what this was. It was the calm before the storm. Throughout the whole week, there had only been one fight (which had turned out to just be some fighting practice between bros). Nothing happened in the cafeterias, not to mention, Towada had mysteriously disappeared from the prison corridors. He’d been subjected to all sorts of work by Aida, who wanted him out of the way. He’d had no choice but to obey her. However, problems would begin to break out soon. Yamamoto wasn’t getting his contraband under Kageyama’s orders, and Kageyama himself was beginning to run low on cigarettes. Once he ran out of cigarettes, he would begin to lose his rational edge. He hadn’t been able to relax all week.

      “Hey, Tobio. Something up with you?”

      He looked up at Suga, who was sat in front of him. He shook his head and continued to poke at his food with his chopsticks. It was Sunday evening and all the inmates were eating dinner as per usual. However, Kageyama still felt a tingling sense of unease. He couldn’t relax. The usually-indifferent Kuroo seemed a little more preoccupied than usual, as did Tsukishima. The whole atmosphere around the Karasuno/Nekoma table was different. It was affecting the entire prison, strangely enough. He needed something. Anything. He needed an opening. But, nothing happened. They all finished their dinner and went off back to their individual dorms, bumbling about until it was lights off.

      And then, Monday morning came. The four cooks were up early as per usual, partly so they could watch Shimizu walk through the hallways and into her office but mainly so that they could go and prepare the kitchen for the day. The four went in, shouting “ORA ORA ORA” as they went in (although, Asahi settled for a quieter version of it) and slamming their hands on the counters. They’d been singing Disney songs and chopping vegetables when Towada burst in all of a sudden, flanked by all sorts of C.Os.

      “Inmates, get down!” The C.Os were wielding their batons. Tanaka might’ve come up with a smart answer. But then, his eyes drifted towards the stun gun in Towada’s holster. A stun gun. Sure, correctional officers were legally allowed to have stun guns in prison, but Kageyama had always forbidden it. So it had never happened.

      They were breaking orders, and no-one knew why.

      “Get down! Now!”

      They all scrambled to the ground, their faces adjacent to the ground. They couldn’t see anything that was happening around them. “If any of you move, we won’t hesitate to use these!”

      They could hear the C.Os rifling through the cutlery, searching through spice cabinets and knocking over meat. Tanaka frowned when he heard the squish of meat getting pushed to the ground and stamped on. It had been fresh as well. He’d been planning to make yakiniku with that.

      Finally, a C.O. screamed “I got it!” which was followed by a “There’s more here”, the statements sparking fear in the cooks’ minds.

      “What’s happening?” Nishinoya couldn’t help himself when he put his head up. But thankfully, the C.Os had put away their batons. They’d found something else, something worse. They were holding baggies which were filled with white substance, some with pills and hunks of bread which had been torn apart in order to discover said baggies. It was then that Aida walked onto the scene, her eyes assessing what was in front of her.

      “Yamamoto, drugs?” Towada tutted, shook his head at the cook who had put his head up. Yamamoto’s face blanched when he realised what was happening, saw the handcuffs in the C.Os’ pockets.

      “It… they’re not… I didn’t bring them!”

      Aida looked at the four cooks, who were biting their fingernails and staring in shock. “There’s been contraband coming out of this area for quite some time. It just so happens that someone tipped us off to the possibility of you having drugs here.”

      “We were framed!” insisted Yamamoto, who clambered onto his knees and bent his head down. “Please! It wasn’t us; it wasn’t us!” Yamamoto would never _dream_ of bringing drugs through his kitchen. _Never_.

      “Either way, if you can’t keep a handle on what’s going through your own kitchen, it seems like there’s a need for there to be a change in the cafeteria staffing. Also, Yamamoto. I understand you’re the Head Chef, right?” Aida looked down at Yamamoto, who was still bowing his head persistently.

      “Yes! I am!”

      “In that case, you’re going to the SHU. This will be going on your record and there will be a trial in the future to determine whether you’ll end up with extra time,” Aida said, gesturing to the rest of the C.Os in the room. “If the trial comes back as guilty, you’ll serve the rest of your time in Shinzen, a maximum security prison. If you’re not guilty, we’ll allow you to assimilate into Fukurodani like normal. Either way, you’ll never come back to these kitchens again.” With that, two C.Os took Yamamoto by either shoulder, lifted him off the ground and carted him out. The three cooks could only watch in horror as Aida continued to lay into them.

      “You three. As accomplices, you will also be subjected to the same treatment. That is the standard policy for anyone caught with drugs,” Aida said. “Regardless of who you belong to or who ‘rules’ this prison, the rules must be followed.”

      “But Warden himself says that you can’t—”

      “I am Executive Warden,” Aida imposed. “What I say goes, inmates. Now, take them away.” The C.Os obeyed. The three cooks were taken and the kitchen was left empty once more. Towada found himself hating Aida just a little bit less. Even though he would’ve preferred to do the speaking, he had to admit. Aida was powerful. Sure, she was no Kageyama, but she was doing a much better job than the rest of the C.Os had been so far.

      “That went well, huh?” Towada grinned.

      Aida nodded. “Yeah. It’s thanks to all the data you compiled on the Karasuno dorm. You’re doing good, Towada. Keep the work up.” Finally, Aida cracked what seemed to be a genuine smile, much to Towada’s surprise. Towada paused for a few moments, but eventually shrugged his shoulders as he gathered the bagged evidence in his hands.

      “Sure thing.”

      Carrying various drugs in their hands, the two walked away from the kitchens and headed straight for the staffroom. They’d need to call the authorities in to collect the offending substances, but until then, they’d leave them to rest in the staffroom.

     “Say, Aida,” Towada began, having just had a thought. “We’re going to need to find someone to take over the kitchens fast, otherwise they’re going to riot.”

      “Already sorted. The new people should be there in a few minutes,” Aida responded briskly. This time, Towada couldn’t help himself from chuckling.

      “You don’t waste time, do you?”

      The brunette let a wry smile cross her face. “You could say that.”

***

      “See, Shou-chan! It wasn’t that hard now, was it?”

      Twenty minutes later and Hinata was standing in the kitchen alongside Terushima. Opposite him was Takeru and some Mukankei minion of his, who was currently tightening an apron around his waist. It had been hasty, rushed. A C.O. had come into the Johzenji dorm, ushered Hinata and Terushima to the kitchen and left them alone with Takeru and his minion. Although no-one had said anything, Hinata already knew what had happened. Takeru had eliminated Kageyama’s men from the kitchen. Why? To prove his dominance. The more dominance he had, the more power he could exert over everyone around him.

      “Oi,” Terushima said, stepping forwards to prevent Takeru from coming any closer. “Back off.”

      “Heh?” Takeru smirked up at Terushima. “Weren’t the Johzenji and Wakunan meant to be allied? Who was it again that helped you on the outside, hmm?”

      “You’re weak,” Terushima snarled. “You threw away all of your other men. The Johzenji don’t have any business with a man like you.”

      “Well, we’re working together right now. Let’s have fun, _Teru-chan_.”

      Terushima gritted his teeth, but nodded and walked away to put on his own apron. He knew there was no fighting it. Right now, Takeru was stronger than him. All he could do was play along until an opportunity came to take him down.

***

      “What’s happening?” asked Kageyama as he walked with Suga to the cafeteria. “Noya, Tanaka and Asahi weren’t here for count this morning but the C.Os didn’t say anything…”

      “I’ll be damned if I know. They probably got too busy trying to recreate dishes off Food Wars again.” Suga let out a snort of laughter. “Trust me, it’s fine. Things have been quiet recently, after all.”

      “Yeah. I guess…”

      They stepped into the cafeteria. At first, everything seemed orderly. The lines weren’t spiralling all over the damn building and the tables were relatively quiet. But, it was when Kageyama and Suga actually stepped into the line that they realised something was off. Really off. They hadn’t realised at first glance, but now that they’d pushed in front of some Mukankei members to get their food, they saw the oh-so-obvious change right in front of them. The smirking Takeru had replaced Nishinoya, the same Nishinoya who would serve food with a sunny smile on his face. That wasn’t the worst thing, though. Just in front of them, there was a Mukankei member whose tray was laden with juicy meat. Karasuno meat. And just ahead was Ennoshita, who had been given the Mukankei slop.

      “What the hell is this?” Ennoshita looked down at his tray, then back up at Takeru. “Where’s Noya? Where’s Tanaka?”

      “They’ve expired,” was Takeru’s response. “Say, tell your men that they shouldn’t do drugs. Or sell them, for that matter.”

      Overhearing this, Kageyama pushed past everyone who was in front of him and slammed both his hands down on his tray.

      “What the fuck are you playing at?!” shouted one inmate who had been pushed by Kageyama. When Kageyama turned to glare at him, the inmate wisely backed off. Then, Kageyama turned his attention back to the smirking Takeru.

      “What did you do to my men?” Kageyama was calm, calmer than he should’ve been. There was a quiet fury burning deep inside of him though. If his suspicions were true (and oh God was he praying that Takeru was just trying to bluff to him) then it would mean war.

      “I didn’t do anything.”

      Kageyama’s eyes slid over to Hinata, who was serving food further down the line.

      _What’s happening?_

      Kageyama didn’t allow his gaze to linger too long; he resumed looking at Takeru, who had opened his mouth to continue speaking. “Although, say, _jefe_. How does it feel to be treated like the lower end?”

      He scooped some soupy-looking oatmeal into Kageyama’s bowl. In response, Kageyama lifted the bowl and dashed it in Takeru’s face. Lukewarm oatmeal dripped down the man’s face, staining his apron and his face. Takeru swiped the oatmeal off his face, letting the glop fall to the floor. Now, they’d drawn in everyone’s attention. C.Os were quickly beginning to rush towards the two, but the two leaders were nowhere near done.

      “Tell me,” Kageyama growled. “What did you do to my men?” It was a question, but at this point, it sounded more like a warning.

      “Why don’t you ask Shou-chan? He knows very well what happened,” Takeru said, grabbing a wide-eyed Hinata by the wrist and tugging him so that he was within Kageyama’s reach. “Go on. Tell your little friend what happened.”

      Kageyama frowned, looking from Hinata to Takeru. At first, it hadn’t quite dawned on him what Takeru was implying. Mainly because Kageyama had invested a lot of trust in Hinata. Not just him, but many of the other members trusted him quite a bit considering that he wasn’t actually a member of Karasuno. All Kageyama could do was stare as the cogwheels turned in his head, helping him to reach an eventual conclusion. But, no conclusion was coming to him. There was the fear in Hinata’s eyes. The pride in Takeru’s eyes. He still didn’t understand. None of it made sense.

      “I’m not strong enough to defend myself,” he began, “and that’s something I’ve known for a long time. But… even if I can’t defend myself…” Hinata winced when Takeru tightened his grip on his wrist. Kageyama didn’t miss that motion.

      “Hey,” Kageyama said, eyes on Takeru’s. “Let go of his wrist. He’s not involved.”

      “Oh, is he not?” Takeru did as Kageyama said, although he promptly moved one foot in order to crush Hinata’s. Due to the food trays, Kageyama wouldn’t be able to see a thing. “I mean, he _is_ the one who—”

      “Kageyama,” Hinata said, cutting Takeru off. Takeru glared at Hinata and ground his foot into Hinata’s, but Hinata didn’t bother to let Takeru speak. He’d opened his mouth, and now he was going to keep going. “They’re in max. They were busted for drugs. And I… I raised the alarm.”

      Kageyama froze.

      In that moment, it was as if he was having that weird dream he used to get as a child. Where he’d be dancing on top of a building, the night sky would be out and he’d be having the time of his life, but then he would slip. He’d fall. And in that moment where he was free-falling through the air, it was like the moment before the storm. And then his head would jerk up, pools of sweat trickling from the dips in his collarbone and he’d take a deep breath, looking up and realising that it was all a deception.

      Realising that it had all been just a dream.

      “How’s that feel, King? Your little friend turned out to be a snitch,” Takeru taunted, knowing that the news had hit Kageyama hard. Kageyama didn’t tend to wear his emotions on his sleeve, but right now, his shock was evident. “Well, don’t worry. This precious kitchen’s in good hands.”

      Kageyama was stuck between hitting Takeru in the face and walking away. He knew that the whole cafeteria was watching this exchange between them. If he walked away, that would mean that he was admitting defeat to Takeru. But if he engaged in violence, he’d end up in max like his fallen men. Takeru had him at a stalemate.

      “Say, I remember you laughing at me and saying good luck when I said that I was going to become the new _jefe_. Look now, Kageyama. Do you see it? Do you see the ruins around you, the ruins of your empire? They’re coming down. Your façade’s beginning to fall too, heh?” He flicked Kageyama’s nose, smearing it with oatmeal. “You’re just a dictator who dresses himself up as a leader. How cute.”

      Kageyama knew that he should walk away, that the best thing to do was walk away, but he was itching to pummel Takeru’s face in. He could feel Suga’s hand on his shoulder, hear that calm voice going in and out of his ears, but it was all white noise to him. Even now, he couldn’t feel angry at Hinata. That was the worst part about it. He was more hurt than he was angry. He was emotional, damnit. He needed to leave. He couldn’t break down in front of all these people, could he?

      “…you’re weak compared to me. Pathetic. I mean, look at you! You won’t be going down in any history books. But me? Takeru? I’ll be in all of them. I’ve been in all the news outlets. I’ve been everywhere. They want to make a movie about me. What about you, Crappy-yama? Nothing. You suck. You should just—”

      “Hey. You two,” C.O. Ushijima said at last, finally choosing to intervene. The C.Os had been standing around the two, having decided that it was best to let them have their moment. “Lay off.”

      “No, no, no. I’m not quite done. I mean, look at him! His face is saying he knows it all! He’s weak,” Takeru said, letting out a deriding snort as he slapped yet more porridge onto Kageyama’s face. “Pathetic! Ladies and gents, I know you’re all watching this. Your so-called leader is crying.”

      “Tobio, _come on_. Let’s go—”

      “No,” Kageyama said at last, wiping the porridge away once more and staring Takeru down. “Let him get it all out. Go on, Takeru. Get all your little petty opinions and thoughts out, come on. It’s fine. I mean, considering you can’t even spell your own name, it’s no wonder you’re just repeating the same old tired point with different rewording. Oh wait, that’s a big word. Sorry. I forgot. You don’t know what that means.”

      When Takeru heard the people snickering on his behalf, he felt the irritation beginning to rise up in him once more. There were C.Os all around them. If he even tried to hit Kageyama, they’d be on him like a rash. He couldn’t do anything, not now. Like Kageyama, he was also at a stalemate.

      “Oh, are you done now? That’s great. I’d give your speech a D+ for effort,” Kageyama snidely commented. Suga, who had been trying to persuade Kageyama to leave, was now finally beginning to see what Kageyama was trying to do. “Now, allow me to make my rebuttal. I know you don’t know what that means either, so in essence, shut up and listen to me.”

      “And why the hell am I going to—”

      Before anyone could react, even Takeru himself, Kageyama’s fist was headed in a straight trajectory, blasting right into Takeru’s face, the sheer force of his fist causing Takeru to stagger back and against the wall, holding his nose as he glared at Kageyama. There were many gasps heard around the cafeteria, but it still remained quiet. No-one wanted to miss a word of what was happening between the two leaders. If anything, this was one of the most interesting things to happen in the prison in years. They were witnessing something new. A shift in power.

      For the first time, Kageyama’s throne was in legitimate danger.

      Of course, he’d punched Takeru in the face and re-established his authority, but everyone in the room could feel it. Takeru would soon become a legitimate threat for Kageyama, and it would be a true battle of the two leaders.

      It would definitely be something worth watching.

      Kageyama was promptly restrained by C.O. Ushijima and taken out of the room, Suga facepalming in disbelief before hurrying after the two men. Suga hadn’t anticipated that Kageyama would actually hit Takeru. Kageyama didn’t usually rush to violence unless he was feeling emotional. And while no-one else would’ve been able to guess it, Suga knew exactly why Kageyama had responded the way he did.

      Takeru’s words had cut Kageyama deeply.

      That, and Hinata’s betrayal.

      “Yoo-hoo, inmates! It’s time to go back to your dorms!” Oikawa, the counsellor, was speaking on the intercom with that practiced peppy voice of his. “Clear away your trays and remember the rules of the hallway: walk, don’t run!”

      With that, the intercom clicked off. There was an awkward silence in the room. Hinata was frozen with shock, Takeru was burning with fury and the rest of the inmates in the room weren’t quite sure how to feel. Hell, they weren’t even sure what had just happened between them. Whatever it was, it definitely wasn’t good.

      Don’t mind the cliché phrase, but most of them might have referred to it to ‘the calm before the storm’. All they could do was hope that this storm wasn’t coming with rain. After all, the lightning was more than enough.


	8. Alienated

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> While writing this, I was thinking about how the Japanese word for king is "ou-sama"  
> and Kageyama's given name is "Tobio"  
> "TobiOU-sama"  
> I wonder if that was intentional or if it's just a coincidence
> 
> Same with Hinata's name, actually. "Hina" in Japanese (using a different kanji) means "baby bird". This series has so much symbolism. Furudate's amazing, I love it

Chapter Eight: Alienated

      It turned out that Kageyama had managed to fracture Takeru’s nose with that one hit. Judging by the amount of blood that had poured out from his nostrils, it was a surprise that it had only been a fracture. It wasn’t even that Kageyama was strong either. He’d just waited until Takeru was off guard to land the best hit he could. If anything, Kageyama was still wishing he’d been able to do more damage.

      Later on that day, everyone involved in the situation (so Ennoshita, Kageyama, Takeru, Suga and Hinata) was called into Oikawa’s office, per Aida’s orders. Kageyama was handcuffed to the desk while Takeru was handcuffed to a C.O. to prevent any fights from breaking out. Hinata tried to catch Kageyama’s eye on more than one occasion, but it looked like Kageyama was avoiding looking at him. It made sense though. Hinata betrayed him.

      “Well, chibi-chan. I feel like you being involved was more about circumstance than anything else. Even so, Aida-chan’s insisting on punishments for everyone. So, you’re on morning toilet duty for two weeks. You’ll be cleaning the Johzenji and Shiratorizawa toilets. Nakashima—”

      “It’s Takeru,” he interjected with a dark glare on his face. “Just Takeru.”

      “You’re on toilet duty for a month,” Oikawa continued, unfazed by Takeru’s words. “You’ll be cleaning in Mukankei Ichi and Mukankei Ni.”

      “Wait, why does he only get two weeks?”

      “He didn’t touch anyone,” was Oikawa’s response. “Based on what I’ve been told about the situation, you instigated the whole incident, Nakashima—”

      “I said, it’s Takeru. And no. It’s _jefe_ over there that started everything. He should’ve just taken his damn food and walked away,” Takeru snapped. “Talks big, but can’t do shit—”

      “Two months,” Oikawa said, briefly cutting Takeru off. “Another word out of you and I’ll make it three and no commissary.”

      Takeru growled, but shut his mouth and directed a dark glare in Kageyama’s direction. Oikawa continued to delegate punishments to the remaining inmates, revoking Kageyama’s commissary for a month and giving both Kageyama and Ennoshita two weeks of morning litter picking outside and around the building, effective as of tomorrow. Suga was the only one who wasn’t punished, most likely because he hadn’t actually done anything to worsen the situation. If anything, he was able to prevent it from getting worse.

      It hadn’t even been twenty-four hours and Aida was already beginning to put all sorts of measures in place. When the five inmates were escorted back to their dorms, they were all surprised to see that they were all under C.O. supervision, even Karasuno. There were two C.Os in the room, sitting on chairs and keeping steady hands on their batons. When Ennoshita was able to get close enough to Kageyama, he whispered a warning about how Aida was planning to install special rooms into all the dorms so that everyone could be observed on a twenty-four hour basis. Kageyama didn’t even bother to ask where Ennoshita had gotten his information from — the man was a wizard when it came to gathering information. He didn’t quite believe it though, so he simply brushed it off as a stupid rumour and went about his business as usual, making sure to steer clear of Takeru. If Takeru caught him alone at any moment, he was dead. Kageyama knew that much. History told it all. There had been kings with the most powerful armies in the world, but the second the enemy isolated the king from their army, the king became nothing but an ant standing before a lion.

      He had no chance.

***

      Two weeks down the line, and at last, Kageyama had completed the first condition of his punishment. He’d been forced to go out litter picking with Ennoshita every morning, and man, did it hurt his pride. He knew that Oikawa had done him a solid by not delegating him to toilet duty, but it still hurt his pride to know that he was cleaning up after other people. Not to mention, it was ridiculous just how many Cheeto packets were lying around the prison. Absolutely ridiculous. But, today had been the last day, and now he could go inside and eat his breakfast in peace. But, it was then that he noticed construction guys coming out from the Johzenji dorm. Ennoshita had been standing alongside him, a look of interest in his eyes as he watched them.

      “They’re installing the rooms,” Ennoshita said. “Although, I’d gladly let them use their tools on me… damn…”

      “Ennoshita.”

      “Sorry, sorry. I’ll tone it down.” The two continued to walk over to the cafeteria and pushed in line as per usual, although they weren’t even sure if there was any point pushing in line anymore. They were being served by some Mukankei guys, who were being watched by some beefy C.Os. After what had happened two weeks ago, the C.Os weren’t risking it again. Not to mention, there was no longer any discrimination when it came to dishes. The prison had changed their food provider and they’d chosen Mukankei inmates with a clean record to serve the food. It didn’t matter. Now, breakfast at Fukurodani was discrimination-free. Everyone got the same processed trash the prison dared call _food_.

      As Ennoshita and Kageyama sat down at the Karasuno table, the two could hear the Johzenji table complaining not-so-quietly about the fact that they had nowhere to “smoke a bowl”, which earnt them a dark glare from Towada.

      The prison was changing, and Kageyama didn’t like it. They’d brought in countless men who were meant to dethrone him, and they’d all failed. They’d brought in Towada. He’d failed. But now that Takeru was here, everything was changing.

      But, thankfully for him, he had a meeting with Aida Riko scheduled for after breakfast. If he played his cards right, he had a genuine chance of saving his prison. But, if he kept allowing things to go downhill like this, that chance would become marginal. He had to act, and he had to act now.

***

      When Kageyama walked into Aida’s office, his boots tapping lightly against the linoleum ground, Aida turned her chair around to face Kageyama. “Hello, Kageyama.” Her brown hair was neat, stopping just below her ears as if it were cradling the strong curve of her jaw. Her eyebrows were set in two straight lines, brown eyes big yet serious, and her lips curled up ever-so-slightly.

      “Hello, Riko-san.” Kageyama bowed his head politely before going to sit down at the provided seat, placing his hands on the armrests. His hair had also been combed into its usual neat style, stopping short at the nape of his neck. His eyebrows were at a slight curve, although they ended with an abrupt sharpness. His eyes were oval, blue as usual, but they were cold. They were the eyes of a killer. And his lips were set in a straight line.

      “Now, it’s my understanding that you and your people have always run things around here,” Aida began, her tone steady. “You get certain privileges for doing that, and you have influence with Warden himself. Am I correct?” Kageyama nodded. “Now, I’ve been brought in to deal with that. First of all, before I tell you what’s going to change, I’d like to hear any threats you have for me.”

      Kageyama raised an eyebrow at her. “Threats?”

      “Yes, threats. It’s my understanding that you usually threaten people into following your will,” Aida explained. “I was subjected to it myself when it came to that inmate with the orange hair. Now, it’s okay to want to keep the inmates under control. But you’ve been interfering with our jobs more and more.”

      “I wouldn’t have to if you left my people alone,” Kageyama calmly responded, as if he were speaking to a child. “They’re my people, therefore they’re my responsibility.”

      “As far as I’m concerned, your ‘people’ are those who belong to the Karasuno dorm. Not Johzenji,” Aida pointed out. “Even so, you don’t get to be exempt from the rules just because of your status. So I’ll ask you again, Kageyama. Are there any threats you have for me?”

      Kageyama didn’t like this, not at all. He sighed, looked up at Aida. “Everyone here bows to my command. That’s all there is to it. If you make my job hard, I’ll make yours even harder.”

      “In that case, I ought to put you in Shinzen.”

      As the words left her lips, Kageyama quickly realised that Aida had one major quality which set her apart from everyone else: she wasn’t scared of him. She might’ve been the only woman alive who couldn’t feel fear when she encountered a monster like Kageyama. Awe, yes. Shock, yes. Fear? No. It was clear in the way her voice resonated within the small office, clear in the way that her shoulders were taut and the way her hands folded together, matching the rhythm of her lips.

      “You and I both know what happens if you do that. Riots break out because there’s no-one at the top to lead.”

      “Well, Kageyama. Karasuno members were caught with drugs,” she said, looking down at some files in front of her. She located the relevant passages with one finger before continuing. “Hinata was caught with a shank and… oh, look. Just this morning, he attacked someone with a mop during his toilet duty. Not to mention, two of your people were caught doing unspeakable things on the cabbage field—”

      “I get it, I get it.” Kageyama sighed, making a mental reminder that he should reprimand Kuroo and Tsukishima. “We’re not all perfect. We’re criminals. What do you expect?”

      “Nothing.” Aida smiled. “But Kageyama, heed this warning. If we end up sending one more of your people to the SHU, you’ll be held liable and sent to Shinzen.” Aida pushed a list into Kageyama’s hand, a list of names that were considered to fall under the category of ‘people’. Underneath the names was a handwritten note.

**Hope this helps! –Towada**

      Kageyama gritted his teeth at that note, now realising how Aida had come to know so much about him and his people. It was because of that damn asshole, Towada. On the list, all of the remaining Karasuno members had been listed, along with Nekoma’s members. But if that wasn’t enough numbers for Kageyama to worry about, there was one more person on the list. Hinata. Every rational bone was screaming at Kageyama not to protect a snitch, but his heart just wouldn’t allow him to deny Hinata that protection. He couldn’t.

      _Oh, God. Tobio, you’re becoming way too soft_.

      “On top of that,” Aida continued, “you’ll have ten additional years added onto your sentence. Is that alright with you?”

      Kageyama froze for a moment. If he were to accept that deal and Takeru found out the details, Takeru would do everything in his power to make it happen. He was already out of medical. He, along with his nose, was ‘recovering’ in Mukankei Ni, which pretty much meant that he was gearing up for even more trouble.

      “What’s the alternative?”

      “You all get treated like everyone else. Your beds will be removed and replaced with futons, and your dorms won’t be assigned based on gang allegiance. Say, squares are meant to be shared between two people each, but in the Karasuno and Nekoma dorm, they’re assigned one each. Also, you’ve got some empty squares, don’t you? The Mukankei dorms are overflowing with people. They’re having to sleep on the floors without blankets, without futons or anything. Yet, you all have beds with pillows, blankets and ‘temperature-regulating memory foam mattresses’,” Aida said, her facial expression taking on some form of jealousy. “Say, what kind of leader allows everyone else to suffer like that?”

      “Privileges are paid for with allegiance,” Kageyama quietly insisted. “Those small-timers don’t earn the privilege.”

      “Well, it’s your choice. Keep your privileges and put yourself on the line, or step down and do the rest of your time in peace.”

      “How do you intend to erase us overnight? We’re everywhere. My influence is everywhere. You can’t get rid of Karasuno or Nekoma,” Kageyama insisted.

      “It’s quite easy, actually.” Aida smiled. “As of now, we have people keeping watch on the families and friends of the C.Os, thanks to the Japanese government. If they die or disappear, we’ll assume it had something to do with your people and you’ll be punished accordingly.”

      Kageyama was instantly able to tell that this was a bluff — the government didn’t have the numbers to keep an eye on so many people — but that didn’t mean that they wouldn’t try and link Kageyama to any disappearances or deaths. The thing that worried Kageyama was that if he hadn’t known that, he would’ve believed Aida’s bluff without a second thought.

      “So, you don’t have any leverage anymore. These inmates won’t want to riot when they realise that we’ll be bringing down Karasuno. I don’t know, but it seems like they all have a pretty big grudge against you all…”

      “We want our privileges,” Kageyama said at last. That was the only right answer. If he gave up his power, it would mean two things: he’d lose his hard-earned pride and he’d most likely be killed in his sleep by one of Takeru’s minions. If he was going to die, it wasn’t going to be in this shithole of a prison.

      “You sure about that? You’re not allowed to change your mind once you walk out of this room,” Aida reminded Kageyama with a raised eyebrow. Of course, she’d been expecting Kageyama to pick his privileges over his safety, but it sure would’ve made her job easier if he’d gone for the latter.

      “I’m sure,” Kageyama said, getting to his feet once more.

      “Alright,” she said at last, her tone clearly indicating that she didn’t believe him. “I hope that I don’t hear about any more incidents with Karasuno then.”

      “So do I.”

      Kageyama turned heel and began to walk away from Aida’s desk, knowing that this was his cue to leave. But when Aida cleared her throat noisily, Kageyama turned to face her once again.

      “Something you wanted to add?”

      “You’re to address me as Aida. That’s all, Kageyama.”

      Kageyama shrugged his shoulders. “Whatever suits you, I guess.”

      He turned again and opened the door this time, walking through and letting the handle go. Mere moments later, he could hear it quietly clicking shut behind him. Kageyama turned and was about to go back to his own dorm, but then he spotted Oikawa making his way over his office. Kageyama turned away so that Oikawa couldn’t see his face, but he was too late. Oikawa had already spotted him and now the counsellor was approaching him with a sunny smile on his face.

      “Yoo-hoo, Tobio-chan! It’s been a while!” The brunette put his fingers up in a victory sign. His shirt was also a cartoony victory sign, complete with sparkles and two unicorns on the sleeve. Oikawa was well-known for wearing weird shirts to work. “You’re looking pretty sour. Although, it’s not any different from usual…”

      “If you’re going to irritate me, then we have no business here.”

      “Not everything has to be a business deal, you know! You really are so serious, my dear kouhai…” Oikawa shrugged his shoulders and spun over to his office, opening the door wide. “Say, it looks like someone needs to vent.”

      “I have no need nor want to vent to you, Oikawa-san.”

      The brunette pouted. “–san? Why do you only ever use –san with me? So distant, Tobio-chan…”

      “I’ve asked you so many times to stop calling me that…”

      “It’s been seven years. I believe I’ve earnt the right,” Oikawa shot back with a mischievous grin on his face. “Now, my dear kouhai. It’s time for you to come and vent to the best counsellor in the world. I even have chocolate digestives, Tobio-chan. You like digestives, right?”

      Kageyama’s face darkened. “You just want to laugh at me.”

      The counsellor blinked back at him, not quite understanding what Kageyama was thinking. “Of course not! I would never laugh at you.” In a more serious tone, he added, “I’ll laugh with you.”

      “That sounded insincere.”

      “I’m never insincere! I’m always honest and pure!”

      The leader let out a deep sigh, realising that there was no arguing with Oikawa when it came to his personality. “Unless you can tell me who Aida Riko is and where she comes from, we’re done here.”

      “Tobio-chan, I can’t help you with that,” Oikawa sang. “None of us know much about her.”

      “In that case, I have no need to vent.”

      “Just entertain me. I’m bored.”

      Ever since Iwaizumi had left the prison, Oikawa had found himself becoming quite restless during working hours. Of course, he’d text Iwaizumi every chance he got, but since Iwaizumi had classes to teach, Oikawa wouldn’t always get the swift responses he wanted. Even then, Iwaizumi would usually only respond with single words or a sentence if he was feeling nice.

      Kageyama didn’t even bother to turn and acknowledge Oikawa; he simply continued to power his way down the hall and as far away from Oikawa as humanly possible. “Wait, wait, wait. If you talk to me, I’ll use alien physics to predict when you’ll find your soulmate!”

      “Not interested,” was the brisk response from Kageyama.

      “ _Tobio-chan_!”

      This time, Kageyama turned around, letting out a deep sigh. As annoying as the alien-obsessed counsellor could be, he would always jump in to defend people when it counted. That was why Kageyama had developed a deep respect for him (albeit begrudgingly).

      “Maybe another time,” Kageyama said at last. Before Oikawa could begin to quiz him about what _another time_ meant exactly, Kageyama was already heading towards the cafeteria once again, his irritation slightly curbed by his brief conversation with Oikawa. However, by the time he entered the cafeteria, his irritation was back in full flow. He could see Kuroo and Tsukishima flirting with one another, Towada watching them with his shot book in hand.

_If they kiss, that’s four shots._

      Kageyama felt like tearing his hair out. Ever since Kuroo and Tsukishima had started this relationship of theirs, it had caused Kageyama nothing but trouble.

      Thankfully, once everyone noticed that Kageyama was approaching, the couple began to lay off the PDA and went back to eating their food. Kageyama didn’t feel too different from how he usually felt, but he could feel everyone on the table giving him curious looks as he sat down in his usual seat. The staring continued for a few moments until Suga finally broke the silence. He got up from where he’d been sitting and went to sit in the empty seat by Kageyama, before asking the question at last.

      “What’s happened?”

      “Noth—” Kageyama was about to brush it off as _nothing_ , but then his common sense kicked in. For a few moments, he found himself battling with his brain. If he were to tell everyone the news here, there was a chance that someone could use the knowledge against him. For some moments, Kageyama found himself focusing on Kuroo in particular. He was a ticking time bomb. He couldn’t be trusted. But then, he looked over to Tsukishima, who was speaking to Kuroo about some gardening jargon. Kageyama knew that Tsukishima had been keeping Kuroo in line the whole time. Tsukishima, despite his smarminess, could be trusted. Kageyama looked around the rest of the table, eventually reaching the conclusion that he could give a brief summary of what had happened in Aida’s office.

      “Riko,” he said at last. “She’s got me.”

      Kuroo raised an eyebrow at him, speaking through a mouthful of food. “By Riko, do you mean the boss lady who wants to take you down?”

      Kageyama wrinkled his nose at the fact that Kuroo was speaking with his mouth full, but didn’t openly reprimand him for it. “Yeah. I do.”

      Tsukishima frowned. “What do you mean she’s _got you_?”

      “If any of you decide to fuck up at any point, this entire place will go to shit. That’s what I mean,” Kageyama snapped, his tone a lot harsher than he’d intended. When he noticed the defensive expression on Tsukishima’s face, he sighed. Tsukishima seemed to be wearing his heart on his sleeve nowadays, and that was going to prove to be a liability.

      “If anyone on this table gets sent to the SHU, I’ll be held liable and sent to max.”

      At this little piece of news, everyone stopped eating (although, they hadn’t really _wanted_ to eat this slop in the first place. How dare they call this sushi) and turned to face Kageyama.

      “Kageyama,” Tsukishima began to say, his tone one that he would probably use to speak to a small child, “are you stupid? Are you genuinely, one-hundred percent _braindead_? Why the fuck would you accept a deal like that?” Usually, Tsukishima might’ve reined in his annoyance a bit, but he couldn’t help but feel irritated by Kageyama taking his frustration out on him.

      Kageyama narrowed his eyes at Tsukishima for a few moments, not liking this condescending tone that Tsukishima was taking on. He was tempted to call Tsukishima out on it, but he knew that there were more important things to talk about at this moment in time.

      “The reasoning doesn’t matter,” Kageyama said at last. “The important thing is that we all need to stay together. More than ever.”

      Tsukishima didn’t want to let it go. “But, Kageyama! You can’t just… you can’t…” Kuroo put a hand on Tsukishima’s shoulder in an attempt to calm things down. Even though Kuroo could understand Tsukishima’s irritation, he couldn’t help the feeling of jealousy that was beginning to surge forth.

      “You shouldn’t put yourself on the line like that,” Tsukishima said at last. “Why didn’t you negotiate? Why didn’t you threaten to kill her family or something?”

      “Ah, yes. Brilliant plan,” Kageyama said, his tone clearly indicating the opposite. “Just reinforce the idea that I’m an anarchistic criminal incapable of acting like a civilised human being, therefore earning myself a first-class ticket to max. You know, it’s not like there’s laws against threatening to murder C.Os and their families, because that would be _crazy_. You know what? You’re a fucking genius, Tsukishima! What, did you graduate from the same university as Kuroo?”

      “Hey,” Suga said, cutting Kageyama off at last. “Cool it.”

      Kuroo looked down at the wooden chopsticks in his hands, then up at Kageyama. It was taking every last fibre in him not to lunge at the Karasuno leader with the chopsticks right now. Meanwhile, Tsukishima had suddenly gone quiet. He didn’t look sad — honestly, Kuroo would’ve started throwing hands with Kageyama if he did — but it didn’t appear as if he were exactly over the moon either.

      “A no would’ve sufficed,” Kuroo muttered, then in an even lower tone, “Tobio-sama.”

      If it weren’t for the threat of Shinzen looming over him, Kageyama might’ve really started fighting Kuroo then and there. He’d felt his feet moving before his brain, his fists instinctively reaching out for Kuroo at the same time the Nekoma leader went to lift his tray up, but Suga had put a firm hand on Kageyama’s shoulder, glaring at him this time. Tsukishima, on the other hand, had snatched the tray out of Kuroo’s hand and pushed it over to one side.

      “Cut it out, damnit!” Then, Suga’s dark glare cut over to Kuroo. “You too. God, you’re both like children!”

      “He started it,” Kuroo complained. “Maybe if he wasn’t so difficult about everything, this ultimatum bullshit wouldn’t be a problem in the first place. It only happened because he insisted that no-one could die. Plus—”

      “Kuroo,” Tsukishima said, “cut it out.”

      “But—”

      “Cut it out.”

      At last, Ennoshita paused his frantic writing. No doubt, he had enough drama in there to fuel two entire seasons of Bad Girls Club — the Japanese, male, prison edition. (So basically, nothing like Bad Girls Club at all.) He looked up, sensing the awkward mood around the table.

      “It’s June 18th today. International Sushi Day!” Ennoshita grabbed his chopsticks and reached out towards the sushi on Kinoshita’s plate, taking it before the brunette could protest. “So, take some sushi and take it well!”

      Weirdly enough, Ennoshita’s words did the trick. Everyone went back to eating their food, breaking into their own mini conversations once again. Tsukishima remained quiet for the remainder of lunch, while Kuroo glared down at the empty space in front of him. Tsukishima hadn’t given him his tray back, although maybe that was for the best. He still wanted to dash it in that damn king’s face. Speaking of the king, he was having a fairly normal conversation with Kenma, Yamaguchi and Suga. _No, Kenma. Not you too_ , Kuroo thought, resisting the urge to facepalm. _Why does everyone like him so much?_

      “Inmates,” Towada said, coming over with his hand on his baton. “This table’s too loud. If I come over again, it’s shots.” He walked away once again, leaving the table to brood amongst themselves. With those two sentences, Towada had managed to kill the mood at the table. Once again. Ennoshita sighed — he didn’t know any more national holidays that fell on June 18th. It also looked like Kuroo was about to say something. By now, most people at this table had learnt that whenever Kuroo spoke, it would usually lead to trouble.

      “How did this happen so quickly?”

      Yaku was the one to ask the question this time, therefore preventing Kuroo from having a chance to speak.

      “It doesn’t make sense,” Yaku continued. “It shouldn’t be possible to do this so _quickly_. You know. That Riko woman came out of nowhere, and it’s as if she knows everything about us already.” Everyone nodded in agreement. Their numbers were decreasing; their resources were dwindling. They were slowly but surely beginning to wilt away.

      “I don’t think it’s quick,” Kenma quietly interjected at last. “They’ve been observing us, observing our weak spots. They hired someone who’s good at that. When there’s a tough monster to beat on a videogame, you can buy power-ups and… you know… yeah. Win.”

      “So, you’re saying that they’re building their resources in order to defeat us.”

      Kenma shrugged. “Don’t take my word for it.”

      Before anyone could discuss the issue any further, the C.Os were beginning to usher everyone out, ordering them to take trays and clean up after themselves. All the Karasuno and Nekoma members were diligent in the way they walked, in the way they put their trays away. Right now, they needed to be even more unified than ever. Not only in drive, but in mind.

***

      “Kuroo, stop that,” Tsukishima muttered, trying to scramble away from Kuroo’s touch. The two were currently working on the garden, although Kuroo seemed more preoccupied on working on _Tsukishima_. “You know we can’t do anything.”

      “Why not?” He grinned, looked around the garden. “We’ve done all the maintenance for the day. I’d say we have a good twenty minutes to ourselves before that stupid meeting…” He went towards the blonde and began to pepper kisses along his forehead, but Tsukishima took a step back.

      “Did you forget what happened at the table? If we get caught, we’ll go to the SHU and they’ll take Kageyama down.” A frown appeared on the blonde’s face as he thought back to the conversation which had taken place at the lunch table. The look of pure irritation which had been etched into Kageyama’s features; the irritation that he’d been unable to hold back every time he addressed Tsukishima or Kuroo. Kageyama was irritated quite often, that was true. But at the table, it had felt… different.

      “Well… maybe that’s not such a bad thing.”

      Tsukishima’s eyes widened. “What?”

      “I’m kind of tired of all this gang stuff,” Kuroo said, shrugging his shoulders. “I mean, think about it. We don’t need to be in these gangs, do we? We’ve been doing just fine working on the garden and spending time together, right? Well, even if these sunflowers _are_ dead,” he added, walking towards the sunflowers. They’d been growing at a steady rate over the past few weeks, but when Kuroo and Tsukishima had come to check on them this afternoon, they’d mysteriously become wilted to the point of no retrieval. The two had spent a lot of time digging them out of the soil, giving the soil nutrients and water so that it could heal once again. Once it healed, they’d plant more sunflowers.

      “Are you saying that we should backstab Kageyama?” It hurt Tsukishima just to suggest the very idea, but it hurt even more when he saw the expression on Kuroo’s face which was already telling him the answer to his question. He’d turned away from the dead sunflowers and was now looking at Tsukishima as he responded.

      “I’m not saying that we should. I’m just saying… it’s an option.”

      “Oh God…” Tsukishima put a hand to his forehead, wondering if he was just imagining all of this. His forehead was warm. Perhaps he was just feverish and imagining this entire exchange right now. “Please say you’re joking. Please, Kuroo. Don’t do this to me.”

      Kuroo tried to step forwards, but Tsukishima held his other free hand out, stopping Kuroo from trying to get near him.

      “No. Don’t.”

      “He’s going to get us all in trouble, alright? That Wakunan leader isn’t someone that we should be fucking around with, Tsukki. If Kageyama goes down, we all go down. We’re playing with fire,” Kuroo said, miming flames with his wiggling fingers, “and we’re being burnt alive.”

      “I don’t understand,” Tsukishima said at last, his voice significantly quieter than before. “If you know that we’ll go down, then why do you want him to go down? What happened to allegiance and loyalty, Kuroo? Do you just want to abandon everyone? Because to me, it looks like you just want to run away.”

      “No!” Kuroo threw his hands out in frustration. “I don’t!”

      “Yes, you do. You’re running away from your duties.”

      “I left the gang. I left Nekoma.”

      Kuroo had only been a teenager when he joined Nekoma, a teenager who’d been unable to see any sort of bright future for himself. By the time he’d figured out that gang life wasn’t what he wanted, it had been too late. He’d left it behind, left with Yaku and Kenma. They’d rented an apartment far away from Tokyo, started building their own lives. And then, the police had come one day, ruined everything they’d built for themselves and sent them to this place. Now, they were worse off than they’d been when they were on the outside. Back then, there had been the gang members on the outside saying that Nekoma was ‘Karasuno’s extra baggage’. On the inside, the insults had only multiplied. While no-one said it anymore, Kuroo knew that there was truth to that statement. Nekoma were baggage. Not strong enough to be on their own, but stronger when attached to an already-strong team. The way it looked, these were the people that Kuroo was going to die with.

      Tsukishima shook his head. “No, Kuroo. Blood in, blood out.”

      “I’m not going to max over this Aida bullshit, for God’s sake! I want to have a life,” Kuroo yelled, having finally lost his composure. “I don’t want to rot in this shithole. I don’t want to be bossed around by that fucking asshole and I don’t understand why you just let him yell at you all the time! He doesn’t appreciate you!”

      “Kageyama’s the reason I’m here today, alright?”

      “That’s an even bigger reason to hate him,” Kuroo snapped.                             

      “You know what I mean. I can’t just walk away,” Tsukishima said in a low tone. He stepped forwards at last, regarding Kuroo through his lenses. “I have been with Karasuno for as long as I can remember, Kuroo. So, if you’re plotting to get rid of Kageyama, then I want nothing to do with you.”

      Kuroo faltered at the last part of Tsukishima’s sentence.

      Ever since he’d gotten together with Tsukishima, he’d thought about a perfect prison world where he’d get rid of Kageyama so that Tsukishima wouldn’t have to be reminded of him. They could love each other without getting complained at for being over the top. But now, Tsukishima was here talking about loving Kageyama and staying loyal to him.

      “So, are you saying that you still love him?”

      The pause before Tsukishima spoke was answer enough. “I didn’t say that,” the blonde insisted. “But—”

      “We both know it’s true.” Kuroo slapped a hand to his forehead, sucked in a deep breath of air. “Man, I don’t get it. I just don’t get it. He’s selfish, egotistical and he discards people when they’re no longer useful to him. Everyone close to him? They end up getting crushed because his life comes before anyone else’s. Look at Kunimi. Kindaichi. Daichi—”

      “No. What about you, Kuroo? You’re no saint either,” Tsukishima yelled, unable to take Kuroo’s dig at Daichi, of all people. “Daichi’s death was _not_ Kageyama’s fault. It’s way too soon to be saying shit like that, for God’s sake!”

      If it had been any other Karasuno member hearing Kuroo right now, they’d have him face down in the soil. That was a given. After all, pretty much everyone knew that Kageyama had grown up with Daichi and Suga. Twenty-odd years of friendship. Kageyama would always go and sit with Suga in Daichi’s square, although at this point, it felt more like Suga’s square. Suga slept on top of Daichi’s bed, every single night. Apparently, the pillow still smelt like him. Kageyama would always come out of his room and go to check on Suga at night, even draping a blanket over him sometimes whenever Suga didn’t do it himself. Likewise, Suga would always knock on Kageyama’s door in the morning and ask if he wanted to go and run on the track. Knowing all of this only made Tsukishima feel even more frustrated at the fact that Kuroo would even suggest such a thing.

      “Then whose fault was it?”

      Tsukishima stopped speaking for a few moments, breathing heavily as he stared up at Kuroo. His expression was impassive, although Tsukishima could see the irritation that was tugging at his lips.

      “You need to grow up, Kuroo. We’re living under the same roof,” he said, allowing his voice to return to a lower pitch once again, “so you’re not any better than he is.”

      “So, just to clarify,” Kuroo said, storming towards the sunflowers and picking them up. “All he ever does, inbetween telling us not to kill people while making plans for other people to die, is insult either you or me. I defend you. I always defend you. But why is it that you never defend me? Is it because you don’t want to disappoint your dear Tobio-sama?”

      “Why are you jealous, damnit? You’re the one I’m in a relationship with.”

      “Well, you’re not acting like it.”

      Tsukishima took a deep breath, genuinely struggling to keep his patience with Kuroo. “Kuroo. You’re so fucking childish.” The blonde took a step forward, all the while focused on the man standing in front of him. “Seriously, Kuroo. How are you the leader of a whole gang? How? All you ever do is whine as if the world’s meant to compensate you. It’s not. You act like some sort of privileged rich boy sometimes. It makes me sick.”

      “Rich boy? _Rich boy_? Tsukki, to be honest, you don’t know _shit_ about where I came from.” Kuroo stepped forwards, closing the distance between him and Tsukishima. It was different from all the other times they’d done it. Usually, when they were standing this close to each other, it would usually end with the two in a passionate embrace. But now, it was for Kuroo to hiss a cold warning in Tsukishima’s ear while the latter stared back, golden eyes glinting in anger.

      “You have family to speak of. I don’t. I had to raise myself,” he pushed Tsukishima back with one hand, not even flinching when the blonde fell into the soil, “fend for myself,” he threw the dead sunflowers at Tsukishima, “live for myself. So, don’t you call me privileged. Don’t you tell me that I think the world’s meant to compensate me. Who’s the one with fans on the outside? Who’s the one who got a film? Who’s the most famous serial killer known in Japan? That’s fucking right, Tsukki. It’s _you_. So, you know what? If the world wanted to compensate me, it would’ve made sure that I never met someone as insincere as you!”

      Tsukishima was still on the ground. He couldn’t believe that Kuroo had pushed him down so readily, that he was covered in all of these dead sunflowers. He stared up at Kuroo, the same Kuroo that had once grinned at him boyishly while trying to figure out his levels of sexual frustration. It was as if he were looking at an entirely different man. He knew that he should probably say something, anything, but he couldn’t. There was a lump in his throat, a really big lump that just wouldn’t go down.

      Kuroo was breathing heavily after his big outburst, looking down at his hands. They were slightly brown with soil, rough from all the handling he’d been doing in the garden prior to this conversation — well, at this point, it was more of an argument than a conversation.

      “We’re over,” Kuroo said at last, wiping his hands off on his prison trousers. “We’re too different. Two different gangs. Two different upbringings. Two different ideals. It was selfish of me to think that this could work out. So… have fun at your meeting, I guess.” Kuroo turned to walk away, hoping that Tsukishima hadn’t heard the slight crack in his voice. Luckily for him, Tsukishima wasn’t listening anymore. Tsukishima was more focused on trying not to cry. He didn’t want to cry, not really. Even so, he could feel that prickling feeling in his eyes, that insistent burning which made him want to give into the urge more and more.

      He wanted to reach out for Kuroo. He wanted to convince Kuroo that he really did have genuine feelings for him, that his allegiance to Kageyama was just that — allegiance. But his heart, it felt like a burning coal in his chest. These same embers that would make him feel like he was one with Kuroo were now making him feel as if he were drowning in the depths of hell, and there was no-one left to save him. He could hardly believe that Kuroo was being serious, but the venom in his voice had been unmistakeable. And to some extent, Tsukishima had been wrong. It had always been a no-no to bring up the past lives of other inmates, especially in Fukurodani. Tsukishima would’ve been lying if he were to say that he hadn’t been curious to know more about where Kuroo came from. He wanted to know.

      Not like this, though. He wasn’t meant to find out like this.

      Feeling as if he were walking around in some sort of dream world, Tsukishima made his way over to the chapel for the meeting. It felt weird to not have Kuroo on his shoulder, singing in his ear. It felt weird not to have Kuroo touching him. Even so, he had duties to fulfil and he couldn’t ignore them.

      Tsukishima drifted through the open doors, seeing that everyone else was in there. Everyone except Kuroo. They were all gathered around the front, while Kageyama was hovering around the altar. There was light spilling in from the stained glass windows, bathing the Karasuno leader in light. He’d been flicking through a Bible absentmindedly, but when he noticed that Tsukishima had arrived at last, he looked up from the Bible.

      “Tsukishima,” Kageyama began, “where’s Kuroo?”

      The blonde shrugged and sat down, not trusting himself to answer without bursting into tears. Yamaguchi looked over at him, concern clear in the brunette’s eyes. He nudged Tsukishima, grabbing his attention.

      “Are you okay?” Yamaguchi hissed, gesturing towards the tear stain on Tsukishima’s cheek. The brunette’s eyes go to survey the rest of Tsukishima’s outfit. The soil clinging to his legs; the wilted, pale, yellow petals stuck to his clothes. “Did you and Kuroo have some sort of argument? I don’t usually see you two apart…”

      “It doesn’t matter.” Tsukishima was aware of dark, inquisitive blue eyes watching him, and it only made Tsukishima hate himself even more. He knew that Kageyama was speaking right now; he knew that whatever Kageyama was saying probably held some serious weight, but he could barely pay attention to what was being said. It wasn’t until everyone began to get up that Tsukishima realised that their meeting had come to an end.

      Shit. Tsukishima hadn’t heard a word of what Kageyama had said.

      “You gonna be alright?” Yamaguchi offered him a small smile.

      “Sure.” Tsukishima nodded. Yamaguchi raised an eyebrow at his friend, clearly not believing him.

      “Take a shower when you’re done here,” Yamaguchi ordered. “Then, come to my square. You understand? If I don’t see you in an hour’s time, I’ll search the entire prison for you.”

      Tsukishima wanted to smile, but he couldn’t find it in him to. He could still feel that lump in his throat, that same lump that just wouldn’t go away. So, instead of speaking, Tsukishima nodded his head. It was all he could do.

      “I’m going to go now. I’ve got to help Kenma down in the library,” Yamaguchi continued, “so I’ll see you later.” He made his way over to Kenma, before leaving the chapel at last. Tsukishima turned in the direction of the exit, only for Kageyama to call his name mere moments later.

      “Tsukishima.” Turning around, he sees that Kageyama’s at the front with Suga, eyebrow raised. “I asked you to stay behind as well, didn’t I?”

      “Oh. Yeah,” Tsukishima said, making his way over to the front. “Sorry.”

      “You’ve been acting weird recently. It’s creeping me out.” Kageyama narrowed his eyes in suspicion, not understanding the sudden personality change. Suga elbowed Kageyama in his side all of a sudden, causing the leader to yelp in pain. Upon receiving the _look_ from Suga, Kageyama sighed before turning his attention to Tsukishima once again. “I’m sorry for my rudeness earlier,” he reluctantly said. “It’s not you. It’s that fucking K—”

      “ _Tobio_ ,” Suga says in a warning tone.

      “—just my hormones,” Kageyama quickly corrected. There was a loud snort of laughter from Suga, who hadn’t been expecting such a correction. Tsukishima was just so glad that he didn’t have to hear Kageyama say that one name, because he knew that he was going to burst into tears and he was going to look pathetic when he should be ready to talk business, for Christ’s sake—

      “Tobio, you know their sunflowers wilted?” Suga had a regretful look on his face. “You know, him and Kuroo tend to those sunflowers everyday, but then they suddenly died out of nowhere. They had to pull them out of the soil.” That wasn’t the actual reason for Tsukishima’s sadness, but Kageyama seemed to accept it as an explanation. “Say, Tsukishima, should I put out some feelers and try to find out what happened? Maybe someone tampered with them.”

      “It was probably one of the Mukankei,” was Tsukishima’s dry response. “There’s no use.”

      “Well, Tsukishima, you’re creeping me out,” Kageyama said bluntly. “They’re just flowers. Forget about it, already.”

      Tsukishima frowned. “You don’t forget about death, Kageyama. You should know that better than I do.”

      When Kageyama got a steely look in his eyes, Tsukishima quickly realised that he’d stepped out of line. Again. But, much to Tsukishima’s surprise, he didn’t push the subject any further.

      “I need you two for something important,” he began to say at last. “Listen good, and listen closely. And no zoning out about any _goddamn_ flowers. I’ll only say it once. Tomorrow, we’re going to take our prison back. This is how we’re going to do it.”

      With that said, he began to launch into a detailed explanation of his plans, going as far as to mention specific actions and specific time periods.

      Suga allowed a smile to appear on his face as he listened to Kageyama’s meticulous planning. In the past, Kageyama had never done the planning on his own. He’d always had Daichi’s input, making sure that the plan was actually plausible. Hearing Kageyama like this, it was a sign that he was beginning to move forward. That knowledge made Suga happier than anything else. Whenever Kageyama put his mind to things, they would always turn out in his favour. Without fail. The only thing that worried him was the fact that Tsukishima was looking a lot more downcast than usual. Suga made a mental reminder to ask Tsukishima about it when Kageyama wasn’t around before focusing his attention on the plan once more.

      “I have a question,” Tsukishima said once Kageyama had finished explaining the plan. “Why me?”

      Kageyama’s eyes narrowed in confusion. “You say that as if you don’t want to be involved. What, is working with me considered torture now?”

      “I don’t mean it like that. I mean, why do you think I’m suited to do this?”

      Kageyama was quiet for a few moments. Tsukishima really was acting weirder than usual. However, instead of choosing to inform Tsukishima of that fact, he gave him something that he hoped would qualify as an answer. “Because you were once Jigsaw. That’s why.”

      Finally, Tsukishima made an expression that didn’t remind Kageyama of those poor orphanage kids that he’d usually see on TV or the pamphlets.

      “In that case, I’ll see you tomorrow,” Tsukishima said. He grabbed the Bible out of Kageyama’s hand and hurried over to the back of the chapel. He then opened the first page and began to quietly read it to himself. Kageyama and Suga exchanged looks, but didn’t question it.

      “We have some time before dinner,” Kageyama began, the two now beginning to make their way out of the chapel. “Should we go to the sheds?”

      “Nah.” Suga smiled, spread his arms out wide as he looked around himself. “Let’s try something new.” And as the two men left, Tsukishima closed his eyes, thinking deeply about the past which had led him towards the fate of becoming ‘Jigsaw’.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tsukishima's flashback is coming up next chapter []|:^)


	9. How Jigsaw Came to Be

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> +++hello, lads. I'm actually posting on time for once.  
> Warning, warning, warning.  
> There's quite a bit of homophobia in this flashback.  
> Violence too, although that's to be expected.  
> Oh, yeah. There's also a spoiler about a pretty significant death in Death Note (then again, Death Note's been out for YEARS. if you still don't know who died in Death Note I feel sorry for you)  
> alsoo, I'm going to be honest, I've never really watched the Saw series (I watched like one of the movies and fell asleep halfway through, so I couldn't be bothered to try again) or anything involving Jason Voorhees, so if I'm wrong on any of what I've written here, i'm SORRY  
> Anyway, I'm done rambling. Enjoy the chapter y'all. There's a badass trio coming up next chapter (◕ ˬ ◕✿)

Chapter Nine: How Jigsaw Came to Be

      “You fucking fag.” Those were the words Tsukishima heard every day when he stepped into school. It was only elementary school, but these kids were already so cruel. Swearing, screaming, shouting. _You fucking fag. You fag. Don’t touch me, I don’t want to catch your gay_. They would yell at him, taunt him and make fun of him whenever he gave answers in lessons. He would act like none of it affected him on the outside. But at night, when he got home to the house he shared with his grandpa and grandma, he’d cry. He’d bury himself under his sheets and he would cry the bitterest tears ever, tears which would drip down his cheeks and stain his pillow cases.

      At least, that’s what he did until he discovered horror movies. He hadn’t intended to, not really. His grandparents had always forbidden him from watching horror movies because in their words, they didn’t want ‘those corrupt Westerners’ putting ideas into their dear Tsukki’s head. But it just so happened that Tsukishima found himself in a cinema one day, buying himself a ticket to see a historical movie. He can’t even remember what movie he was supposed to be seeing. But, he’d stumbled into the wrong showing room and ended up watching a movie in which all the main characters were killed in gory ways. While many in the audience threw up in their popcorn containers, Tsukishima was wide-eyed at the front, watching the screen with interest. By the time the credits had rolled, there were only a handful of people left. He walked out, and from that point on, horror became his addiction. He liked seeing all the gory animation, the blood; the cries of victims. He began to wonder whether he would be capable of it himself.

      Slowly, he began to gather knowledge on the best horror films out there. He was particularly interested in the ‘Saw’ series, featuring a cancer sufferer named ‘Jigsaw’. But with his grandparents constantly keeping an eye on his internet activity, he had to become good at hiding his activities. After all, he didn’t want his grandparents knowing that he liked to watch gay porn on the family computer whenever he was on his own at night. (Now, _that_ would’ve been a difficult conversation to have.) So, Tsukishima began to spin a story about how he wanted to be a computer programmer when he grew up.

      “I’m really interested in it,” the blonde said one night at the dinner table. “So, is there any chance I could have my own laptop to experiment with? You know, I’d like to be the guy who stops viruses and hackers from getting through security systems.”

      His grandmother cast a disapproving look over at her grandson, tutting as she turned her attention over to her husband. “I don’t know… Honey, what do you think?”

      “I think it’s good,” his granddad said, letting out a hearty laugh. “As long as we can access it any time we like, I’m okay with him having his own laptop. Say, your fourteenth birthday’s in a week from now. We’ll see what we can do.”

      “Wait,” his grandmother said. “Where are we going to get the money for one of those new-fangled inventions?”

      A wry smile appeared on his granddad’s face. “I’ll make it work.”

      Oh, and he did. Exactly one week later, Tsukishima woke up to a rectangular box on his lap. Lo and behold, it was a brand-new laptop! Anti-virus software, two USB ports _and_ a shiny charger to go with it. While his grandparents insisted that he allow them to check the laptop at random intervals to make sure that he wasn’t up to anything illegal (although how could their _darling Tsukki_ ever do something so bad?) Tsukishima was alright with that. Through many experiments and online forums, he taught himself about how things like proxies and vigilance mattered when it came to hiding your internet activity. He also found himself learning how to read English, since most of these forums tended to be written in English. While it definitely wasn’t a walk in the park (what the hell is up with all the word rules in English? Foot is feet, but boot is boots? And moose is meese, but mouse is mice? It’s ridiculous) Tsukishima had been determined to pull it off. If he could cover his tracks from his grandparents, he could do anything he wanted without their intervention.

      By the time Tsukishima made it into high school, he’d learned all about the importance of things like VPNs and algorithms. He probably could’ve deconstructed his laptop and put it back together if he wanted to. He was getting perfect scores in his English class. And most of all, he’d compiled a list on all the best horror films there were. Under his alias, ‘Jigsaw’, he’d speak with people on the internet about the best psychological thrillers and horror films. It was then that he became aware of a show from Japan itself, known as ‘Death Note’. He’d been quite sceptical at first, realising that the show itself seemed to rest heavily on the protagonist’s shoulders, but by the time the last episode had rolled in, it had left Tsukishima hanging off the edge of his seat. It just so happened that ‘Death Note’ seemed to be really popular on the internet. And in a way, Tsukishima didn’t see anything wrong with what Kira had wanted for the world. _Kira is justice, isn’t he? Why did they want to stop him?_

      Watching it again, and then again, Tsukishima reached the conclusion that they were jealous that Kira was doing what they weren’t. Eradicating the bad people from the world. _Kira would’ve got rid of the bullies_. If Tsukishima could’ve got his hands on a death note, he wouldn’t have hesitated to carry on Kira’s legacy. But, without a death note, he couldn’t do anything. _Think about it. What would people like Jason Voorhees do? People like Chucky, or Pennywise?_

      Tsukishima would’ve liked to say that the bullying stopped when he made it into high school and that everyone suddenly began to accept his sexuality. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case. He began to rely more and more on horror movies to quell his rage; it seemed to be the only way at this point. He’d tried joining a volleyball team, but once the seniors had discovered that he was gay, they kicked him off. It just so happened that Tsukishima decided to watch one of these movies, only to fall asleep in the middle of it. His grandparents, having heard strange noises, came to check on him. And there they learned that their grandson had been watching the same horror movies he’d been prohibited from watching. All the work he’d done to hide his activities from them, from the _world_ … it had all been ruined because he fell asleep at the wrong time. After that, he never saw his laptop again. They forced him to go to a therapist to get these ‘Western ideas’ out of his head. It was as if they’d forgotten about the yakuza. _Why is horror seen as Western? Horror exists in any culture_ , Tsukishima would insist. But his grandparents would never listen, they’d just shut him away and keep on sending him to that _damn therapist_. If they were to discover his sexuality, he’d have been kicked out with nowhere to go. The movies were bad enough, never mind _that_.

      So, Tsukishima continued to attend these therapy sessions until the therapist concluded that everything seemed to be fine. He never _did_ get that laptop back, but it didn’t matter. Tsukishima hadn’t been spending a whole year learning to read English and observing all these horror films for nothing, had he? He was ready to test it out. After being kicked out of the volleyball team, he’d joined the photography club. There were only two people in the club and one of them was pretty much always absent, so it was just Tsukishima and the other guy. The guy knew about Tsukishima’s predicament, but he’d never ask about it. The two would just talk about photography. That was how the first few weeks went.

      It was a typical Monday morning when Tsukishima received the same reception as always from his classmates. Being called a ‘lanky gay giant’ (although that insult actually made him laugh) and having things stuck onto his chair was a daily occurrence. The three boys who would shout and taunt at him were once again, a daily occurrence. They’d followed him from elementary _and_ grade school, much to Tsukishima’s annoyance. What _wasn’t_ a daily occurrence was Tsukishima deciding to walk over to a field. These three boys would usually taunt him on the way home for kicks, so it wasn’t unusual for them to follow him. (In fact, Tsukishima had once joked about them being the gay ones if they wanted to follow him. They left him bleeding on the floor. Safe to say, Tsukishima wasn’t going to try that again.)

      “Hey, giant! Give us your money! We want to go to the arcade!” They were _still_ following him, even as the sun was beginning to set. “Are you ignoring us? We’ll kill you, bastard! Give us your money!”

      It was then that Tsukishima turned around, having reached the perfect spot at last. “Oh, I’ll give it to you. You just won’t live to spend it.” He grabbed a gasoline container and lifted it up, a manic glint reflecting in his eyes as he tossed some coins at the boys, who were frozen to the spot with shock. “Say, boys. Let’s play tag. _I’ll be it_.” The three boys, having finally realised what they’d walked into, tried to run away, but it was futile. This field spanned many metres, probably many miles, and nobody ever came by at this time. It was beautiful, Tsukishima had decided. Beautiful in the way the sun would set and the sky would glow a pomegranate-pink, colours exploding in the sun’s absence. And then all these colours would melt into blue, purple, black; _beauty_. It was only fitting that Tsukishima made an addition of his own.

      That was what was going on in the boy’s mind when he threw the gasoline over his classmates, laughing as they began to scramble like a bunch of ants. “At the end of the day, you’re all pathetic. Say, how does it feel to have lived such a futile life? How does it feel to have justice rain down on you like this?” A smirk pulled at Tsukishima’s lips as he flicked the match against its little wooden container and chased after them. Once he reached the first one, he yelled “Tag! You’re it!” and set them on fire. Like that, the game continued until all three of them had formed a sort of fiery triangle, grassy blades and flowers burning in their wake. And when the fire had finally died out, leaving nothing but ash and mangled bodies in its wake, Tsukishima snapped some pictures and walked off, feeling indifferent about what he’d done. _It’s beautiful_. The way the fire merges with the night, orange and red embers licking their way up mangled body parts and singeing blonde strands, red, purple, turning them all a charred obsidian black… it’s beautiful.

      And it continued. The murders rolled in; the deaths began to stack up. But no-one ever suspected him. Meanwhile, Tsukishima was starting to get closer to his photography friend. He’d even made the effort to learn this guy’s name: Sakunami Kousuke. He had dark hair, a small build and a welcoming smile. They’d often spend time together after school in the dark room, processing pictures while discussing cameras and the best types of coffee.

      “I like my coffee black,” Tsukishima insisted. “Sugar ruins it.”

      Sakunami would laugh, toss his head back as he shook his head at the blonde. “You’re insane. I didn’t think anyone actually liked their coffee black.”

      The very next day, Sakunami began to bring coffees for the both of them — one black, and one full of sugar, milk and some froth on the top. They’d tried swapping coffees once (only for the both of them to react in disgust and hand the coffees back) but it had added a lot more depth to this friendship of theirs. Over the weeks, Sakunami would speak about his family situation, about how his father was on the police force and how he himself wanted to work in forensics when he grew up. Tsukishima, on the other hand, didn’t like to speak too much about his family. Tsukishima’s parents didn’t have the money to look after him, so they’d handed him over to his grandparents. His parents lived in an entirely different prefecture, so Tsukishima didn’t know them. Not really. In fact, they’d never come to visit. They gave the excuse of having no money, having no time… but once the news of them winning the lottery hit Tsukishima’s TV screen, he’d waddled up to his grandparents, all excited as he asked,

      “Will I be able to see Mom and Dad now?”

      Over the years, five-year-old Tsukishima morphing into a fifteen-year-old Tsukishima… he’d figured out that money wasn’t the problem. Time wasn’t the problem. _He_ was the problem. His parents didn’t want him anymore. But of course, Tsukishima wouldn’t want to pour his whole life story out of Sakunami. He didn’t want his only friend to pity him. So, Tsukishima would simply say that he didn’t know his parents when Sakunami asked about his family. It was easier than explaining the truth.

      “Have you ever dated anyone, Tsukki?”

      Tsukishima would dodge the question with a smirk and a “Do you really have to call me ‘Tsukki’?” Sakunami could tell he was dodging the question, but the boy would still play along and grin.

      “Of course, Tsukki. It’s a sign of our never-ending friendship. Say, look at these shots I got while walking to school today…” and Sakunami would pull out his camera and show Tsukishima the photographs he’d yet to process in the dark room. Tsukishima would admire them — really, Sakunami had quite the eye for detail — but he’d always think about how much _better_ they’d look with some gory detailing. Blood, needles, the supernatural… it always made everything look so much _better_. But Sakunami couldn’t discover that side of Tsukishima, not yet. Sakunami still believed that Tsukishima was the computer geek he’d presented himself as, someone who could bypass any firewall if he wanted to. He had to keep playing that role, _keep playing that role_ , so that he could have a friend.

      “Say, Tsukki. Do you have anyone else apart from me?”

      “Would you tease me if I said no?”

      Sakunami laughed, touched a hand to the blonde’s shoulder. “Course not. I think I like the idea of having you to myself, Tsukki.” Neither of them could deny it — their friendship was beginning to veer into unprecedented territory — but neither of them seemed to mind either. That was why Tsukishima didn’t pull away when Sakunami touched his coffee-sweetened lips to his, nudging the camera out of the blonde’s hands and placing it to one side as he deepened the kiss. Sakunami had been in the closet for many years, not completely out like Tsukishima was, but at a time like this… he definitely would’ve hopped out the closet at the blonde’s command.

      “I like you, Tsukki.”

      “Am I meant to be surprised?” The blonde would raise his eyebrow, smirking when he saw that he’d been able to make Sakunami blush.

      “S—Shut up! Just take the compliment!” and the two would kiss again, Sakunami’s smooth hands entangling themselves in Tsukishima’s hair. It had been quite long ever since his childhood — in fact, it had gone all the way down to his shoulders — and it had been smooth, silky.

      From there, the two continued to meet up at the end of every day and make out. But Tsukishima would always excuse himself on Fridays and Mondays, the same day these mysterious murders would occur. If this story had been in Tsukishima’s favour, it would’ve been his happy ending. But in this case, the chance of a _happy ending_ is nothing but wishful thinking. Sakunami began to make the links, although he’d never mention it to Tsukishima.

      It was one Friday afternoon when Tsukishima tried to excuse himself. Sakunami decided to pull him into the dark room and instigate yet another make-out session. At first, Tsukishima had resisted, knowing damn well what would happen if the lights were turned on, but he eventually gave into the temptation. _It’s just a make-out session. He’ll be fine_. But then, Sakunami stumbled back, his shoulder nudging the light switch and suddenly, the entire room was bathed in light. Sakunami’s eyes swung open and he saw all the pictures hanging from their pegs, photographic evidence of all these murders and the _blood_ , oh _God_ the blood…

      “What the fuck?!” Sakunami backed away, pointed a shaking finger at the pictures which were hanging up in the place they’d been left to dry at. “What… what the hell are those pictures?”

      “It’s art.” Tsukishima smiled, held up his camera. “What, do you not like it, Saku?”

      “No! Are you insane?! That’s murder!”

      “These are the same people that made fun of me for liking guys.” Tsukishima’s tone was suddenly more solemn, something more sinister. “What, are you saying I should’ve let them spout their ignorance?”

      “Not everyone’s going to accept it! We have to deal with that!”

      “No,” Tsukishima shook his head, “we don’t.”

      “What are you doing?” Tsukishima was beginning to walk towards Sakunami, still holding the camera in his hands. “Tsukki. _Stop_. You know… you know I love you…” His hands were shaking as he backed himself up against the wall as far as he would go.

      “You might love me, but you don’t love my vision.” Tsukishima held up his camera, took a picture of the boy who was still curling up on himself. “This is the future. I’ll purge the world of bullies and make the world a better place,” Tsukishima said, spreading his arms out wide as the camera fell to the floor, smashing into millions of little pieces. Sakunami flinched, tried to back himself up against the wall once more. “There’s no need for them, is there? Say, ever since I got rid of the bullies in this school, people have been a _lot_ more open about their sexualities. That was me, Sakunami. We can walk the halls while holding hands and _nobody will dare to say anything_. I’m the reason we can be free, Saku. It’s because of my love for you that we can be free like this.” Sure, Tsukishima might’ve ended up doing this even if he hadn’t met Sakunami. But Sakunami had given Tsukishima a firm purpose, something _concrete_ to aim for.

      “You’re—you’re insane! Stay away from me! Get back!”

      The blonde got down on his knees and planted a kiss on Sakunami’s cheek. He was quivering with fear, but Tsukishima seemed oblivious to it as he embraced Sakunami in his arms and dotted kisses along the side of his cheek. Sakunami was no longer speaking, but that didn’t mean he was accepting this. _No way_.

      “Get back!” yelled Sakunami once again. This time, Tsukishima seemed to hear him.

      “Sure.” Tsukishima smiled and got back up onto his feet, so that he was looking down at Sakunami. “But you’ll see things the same way as me in the future. I’ll make the perfect world, a world where no-one is persecuted for their sexuality or the way they identify. And I’ll do it while creating art. The whole world will see my artistic vision. They’ll see just what I’m capable of. The world isn’t just golden colours and sunrises, you know. It’s also fire, gore, all the things that we fail to acknowledge. I’ll make you love my vision, Saku.” And just like that, Tsukishima disappeared. Overnight, he’d run away from home and left the town behind. Sakunami had of course phoned the police and told them about what had happened, but with no Tsukishima left to speak of, they couldn’t do anything about it. And for those who ask where Tsukishima went?

      He never left. He was just there, lurking in the shadows. Quietly purging the bullies, one by one, leaving strands of blonde hair in his wake. He _wanted_ people to find out who he was; he _wanted_ people to know that there was someone out of here bestowing judgement onto the scum of the world. But as his bloodlust grew, he knew that the small town of Kiso wouldn’t be enough. So, he moved to Tokyo, having heard of the notorious gang: Karasuno. It took him a few weeks to find out just where they were by means of technology, but in the end, Karasuno ended up approaching him themselves. Kageyama, the leader, was only two years older than him, exactly eighteen years old, but he was already leading such a notorious gang. He’d been just as tough as the rumours had said. It was in Karasuno that he met Yamaguchi, a man with an even more artistic eye than his. They’d formed an alliance, and just from that alliance, Tokyo knew that there was a new man in town. Karasuno couldn’t resist having someone like Tsukishima in their ranks (even if his personality _was_ non-existent). So, Tsukishima cut his shoulder-length hair and ditched his contact lenses in favour of a pair of glasses, creating his new image for the sake of Karasuno.

      From the time Tsukishima joined, Karasuno was at their strongest. Having reached their capacity for new members at last, they began to pillage banks, kill and murder anyone that they needed to. They were villains of the night, plundering and stealing whenever they could. They truly were crows, in the way that they would mob the skies and prey on the weak. They thrived like that for five whole years, their power unfaltering until that fateful night where they stumbled right into the trap of the Japan police force.

      It just so happened that the police officer who handcuffed Tsukishima was none other than Sakunami, the same boy that Tsukishima had loved during his childhood years. Sakunami didn’t even seem to _remember_ his love for Tsukishima; he only seemed happy that he’d been able to stop Jigsaw’s reign over Japan at last.

      “You have the right to remain silent,” Sakunami was saying. His eyes were dark, cold as they regarded Tsukishima. There was a glint of excitement behind them, but none of the gentleness that Tsukishima had once known. “Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be provided for you. Do you understand the rights I have just read to you? With these rights in mind, do you wish to speak to me?”

      “It’s the first time we see each other after five years and that’s the first thing you say to me? You’re just as antisocial as ever, Saku.” Tsukishima hadn’t changed one bit. He was just as provocative as usual, especially with that smirk and damn tilt of his glasses. If Sakunami didn’t have a reputation to uphold as a police officer, he would’ve smashed the damn thing. (And probably taped it back together too, but that’s a story for another day.)

      “I strongly suggest you take advantage of your right to remain silent, _Jigsaw_.” The usage of his alias made Tsukishima’s blood boil a lot more than it should’ve. _That’s wrong. He should be calling me Tsukki like he always does_.

      “Don’t call me that.”

      “Well, that’s who you are, right?” Tsukishima looked down, noticed the silver ring adorning Sakunami’s hand and suddenly everything became clear. _He doesn’t need my vision anymore_.

      “I made this world for us. For everyone…”

      “A world where everyone lives in fear isn’t a world at all, Jigsaw. Cut the crap.” Yes, Sakunami definitely remembered him. He couldn’t forget that damn _blonde_. He couldn’t forget their conversations about coffee, about photography, about _life_. _Why couldn’t have Tsukishima been normal? If he hadn’t been murdering those people, it wouldn’t have ended this way_ , Sakunami thought as he gritted his teeth together.

      “You still love me, huh?” Tsukishima looked back up at Sakunami, who was refusing to acknowledge him. “That’s pretty shitty. Locking away the one you love…” The officer tugged on his cuffs with slightly more force than necessary in response.

      “I’m married,” Sakunami responded coldly. “Now, can you shut up?”

      “Jee, Saku. I thought you wanted to work in forensics…”

      “ _You have the right to remain silent_ ,” the officer repeated once again, jaw tense as he turned to face Tsukishima at last. “In other words, _shut the hell up_.” In all honesty, Tsukishima had forgotten all about love amidst his life as Jigsaw, but at this moment… he might’ve remembered how it felt again.

      “And I don’t plan to take advantage of that right.” Tsukishima smirked teasingly. “Come on, you know me.”

      “No, I don’t. I never could’ve imagined that you’d be such a shitty human being,” he said coldly. “It disgusts me that I ever had anything to do with you. I guess it’s fitting that I’m the one who puts you away for good.”

      “Hey, Saku… don’t be like that.” They were at the police van now, which was already open wide for him. “ _Saku_. You can undo these cuffs, you can let me go. You still love me, don’t you? You… you can’t let my vision end here.” Tsukishima was thinking that he would’ve been able to use Sakunami’s attachment to him to manipulate his way out of the situation. But… for some reason, Sakunami just _wasn’t budging_.

      “Have fun rotting behind bars, Jigsaw. If the prisoners don’t kill you, I hope the guilt does.” With that, the back doors slammed shut and the van began to move. Tsukishima’s eyes darted back and forth, hardly able to believe that he’d been caught.

      “Me? Caught? That’s the biggest joke ever!”

      And he laughed, laughed so hard that his lungs were beginning to ache. Kept on laughing until the police officers yelled at him to shut up. Kept on laughing until the tears began to fall again, just as fresh as they’d been when he was thirteen. _He wasn’t meant to go back in time. His vision was meant to liberate him, liberate the entire world_. But he’d forgotten one major thing. Those who try to do good for the entire world always end up dying.

      Now, Tsukishima was in Fukurodani Penitentiary. His family never came to see him — in fact, they’d all disowned him after discovering just who he was — and he had no-one left who cared about him. He couldn’t even watch horror movies and forget about how pathetic his life was, even if only for a moment. All he could do was think about all the people in his life who had treated him like he was replaceable, like he wasn’t worth anything. Kageyama had saved him from that kind of life. He’d invited Tsukishima into Karasuno and allowed him to have that power. Kageyama had saved him, period. Kuroo didn’t understand that. He couldn’t. And, maybe that was for the best.

      _Not everyone’s made for love_ , Tsukishima thought as he opened his eyes once again, met by the Bible scriptures in front of him. His eyes fell upon a certain verse, 1 John 1:9. And for some reason, his eyes remained glued to that very verse.

      **If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> They probably wouldn't use the Miranda Rights in Japan, but oh well ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯


	10. Preparing for War

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Towada gets to have his flashback moment, thanks to the prospect of five million yen (£32577 in pounds, $45150 in US dollars).  
> Unfortunately, it's not too pleasant.
> 
> [Heads-up, this chapter involves a flashback in a flashback. I hope it's not too confusing!]

Chapter Ten: Preparing for War

      It was an early Tuesday morning, just after count, when Kageyama walked into Towada’s office, flanked by Suga and Tsukishima. Towada was sitting on his own, staring up at the three inmates. There were some papers in front of Towada, which he’d been studying prior to the inmates’ entry. Tsukishima’s golden eyes seemed to flicker in the natural lighting coming from the window, much to Towada’s fascination. But then Towada looked over at Kageyama, who was at the centre of their little formation. His eyes were like rough, unrefined sapphire in the light, and his eyebrows remained set in a firm, straight line. The door clicked shut. Now, it was just the four of them, all staring each other down.

      At last, Towada spoke. “Inmates aren’t allowed in here.”

      “And I told you, outsiders aren’t allowed in this prison.” Kageyama’s tone was cold as he stepped forward, and Suga’s sharp, cutting gaze was beginning to unsettle Towada. The C.O. placed his pen down, slowly looking up at the three inmates with a careful, calculated gaze. His hand instinctively reached for his baton, but the smirk on Tsukishima’s face told him that there was no use. Towada put both hands on the curves of his kneecap instead, trying his hardest not to alert the inmates of his fear. Again, the ghost of a smile on Suga’s lips told Towada that they’d already sensed his fear.

      “Fortunately for you, we’re willing to make a deal.” Tsukishima pulled out a single thousand yen note from the waistband of his prison trousers, stepped forward and placed it on the low coffee table. Towada’s eyes slid down to the smooth, unrumpled yen note, which had two kanji characters written on it, snug and sound in the corner. **Karasuno**. “You’ll get Takeru transferred to a different prison. Upon completion, there’ll be more of this where it came from. To be specific, five thousand more.”

      “W…Wait. You’re offering me… five million yen.”

      Towada’s eyes widened as he envisioned the countless stacks. They were in his mind, the images so vivid he could almost taste that crisp, sweet money. Slightly coppery, slightly minty. At this point, he was making up the smell in his mind since he’d never seen so much money in his life. And then he reached out to the thousand yen note on the table and pressed it right up to his nose, expecting to be hit with a fragrant wave of mint. Instead, it smelt strong, poignant. It smelt like bleach. Blood money.

      “And then, you’re going to quit your job. You’re going to take your pathetic little ass out of this prison and you’re going to cease all contact with anyone who works here.” Kageyama slid another thousand yen note onto the table, now holding Towada’s gaze. His eyes were cold, dark as his hand remained on the table, his tall figure looming over Towada’s. Even though Towada was much older than him, Kageyama was still much taller than him. “Break these terms, and I’ll make sure you don’t live to spend that money like the dog you are, Towada.”

      The more Kageyama spoke, the more Towada’s face began to transition from a ruddy red to a pallid, paper-like expression. He was too dumbfounded to say something smart, too dumbfounded to think. He was thinking about the money, but he was also thinking about his goals, about the way Kageyama humiliated him. He could accept the money. But, if he did that, that would mean he’d have to give up his pride.

      “What will it be, dog? You going to wag that tongue of yours or are you going to take the money?”

***

      “What will it be, Towada-kun? Are you going to tell me what’s going on, or am I going to have to find out from your parents?”

      Eighteen-year-old Towada looked up into the smooth, caramel eyes of his teacher, Sanada. In front of his teacher was his most recent exam paper, where there was a big fat U written in red marker. Towada couldn’t even scrape himself a lousy one percent on the paper. He’d written the characters of his name on the page and that was all. He hadn’t even flicked the first page open.

      “Nothing’s going on, Sanada-sensei,” Towada responded quietly. “I’ll try harder next time. I promise.”

      “You say that every time,” Sanada scolded, his eyebrows sloping downwards in frustration as he looked down at the paper once again, thinking hard to himself. “Why is it that I keep getting these empty exam papers? Is it meant to be some sort of statement, Towada-kun? Do you need me to give you extra support? I’m really running out of ideas here.” He sighed, massaging both sides of his temples with his thumbs. Stress lines were forming on his forehead, causing the feeling of dread in Towada’s stomach to increase. He could feel it building up, so much that he felt as if he could throw up any second. But he didn’t.

      “I—”

      “I know you’ve always been a quiet boy, Towada-kun. You don’t speak in class. You don’t ask questions in class. You don’t appear to have any friends in this class.” Sanada’s hand reached out for Towada’s shoulder, but Towada flinched and pulled away from his touch. When he saw the hurt in Sanada’s eyes, Towada found himself regretting it. _It’s not you_. But he couldn’t say it out loud. “But, I know that you’re capable of more than this.”

      He held up the exam paper, turned it so that Towada could see the ‘U’ there, just as red as it had been the first time he’d seen it. His grade, so utterly _despicable_ that it hadn’t even been granted the honour of being graded with an ‘F’. It had been given a U, U for ‘Unsatisfactory’.

      “I took notes, Sanada-sensei,” Towada quietly said at last, pulling his notebook out of the small messenger bag he always carried around on his person. On the front was the title, ‘University Notes for Mathematics’. Sanada took it out of Towada’s hand and flicked through it, noting the assortment of Post-It notes and various highlighter colours that were filling the pages. It was all scrupulously detailed, formula triangles all drawn in; all his dates underlined and written in bold pen. He’d even gone as far as to include a ‘Grade Page’ at the end, where he’d written in all of his recent grades. At the start of the year, he’d managed to score himself a 100%. He hadn’t done this exam in the exam hall, but in a hospital room under Sanada’s supervision. Upon being released from the hospital and back into the normal flow of university life, his grades had instantly slid down to a U. He’d scraped himself an F at one point, but the U’s were fairly consistent. It had led many people to suggest that there was something wrong with that A* he achieved at the start of the year, but Sanada knew that wasn’t the case. The man sitting in front of him was exceptionally talented at mathematics, and his note-taking was on another level entirely. He just wasn’t showing it.

      “I don’t understand,” Sanada said at last, placing the notebook down on top of Towada’s exam paper. “You’re my best student. You turn up to all the revision sessions. You always ask me how you can improve. You’re the brightest spark I’ve ever seen. So… why? Why the F’s?”

      “I don’t know.” Towada closed his eyes, and in that moment, he saw exactly why. _He steps into the exam hall, and it’s as if he leaves all of the information on the outside. As his feet tap along the wooden ground, filing in behind all the other students, all he can remember is the sound of electricity. The constant buzz. It fizzles, it sizzles and when it touches him, he begs for mercy. Of course, he never gets it. Mercy isn’t something that Towada is worthy of._

      **You’re unnatural.**

**This will heal you, sonny. This isn’t how the Lord intended you to be.**

      **Sit down. We’ll make you normal again, Yoshiki.**

      “You may open your papers.” And the timer starts, he can hear everyone flicking their papers open and working their way through the questions. But Towada’s arms are bound to his sides; they’re bound to this leather chair that he’s been strapped to. And he can’t shut his eyes.

      **Turn the dial up. Hurry, turn it up.** Towada’s knees knock against one another, a jolt of electricity throwing him back on his seat. And he bites down hard on his tongue, bites down until he can feel the blood pooling in his mouth. He spits it out, causing the two men in front of him to shake their heads. They consult a leather book, two words written on the front in gold, cursive text. _Holy Bible_.

      **He’s spitting blood. It’s the Devil.**

      **Turn the dial up. Higher, already. Turn it higher.** Towada’s feet slam into the ground; his arms pull hard against the restraint until his lungs are burning and from there, it only gets worse. His eyes are glazing over with unshed tears, since he can’t shut them. He’s too scared of dying. If he closes his eyes, even for a second, he’ll pass out and then he really will come face to face with the devil. He can smell the smoke; it’s coating his body and his muscles are aching with the strain of staying conscious.

      **Leviticus 18:22.**

      The dials go down and the electricity fades, although Towada can still feel himself buzzing with the current that’s just been pumped through his body. It’s caused the hairs on his body to rise, caused his heart to beat faster. He’s surprised it’s still beating. He’s surprised that they haven’t just gone ahead and killed him yet. But, his parents hadn’t asked for these men to kill him. They’d just asked these men to help their son to ‘reject his gay side’, using any means possible.

      **You know what that verse says, sonny? It says, ‘You shall not lie with a male as one lies with a female. It is an abomination.’ Do you understand, Yoshiki? Nod if you understand.**

      He didn’t nod at first.

      That was when they brought in the machine for the first time. Hooked him up to it, and unleashed a whole new world of terror on him. They tied him to this leather chair, bound his legs to these fragile little chair legs and wired him up to this machinery. The room was dark, although light would spill in from the sole window in the room and the machine itself often gave off its own light.

      **Do you see this verse here, sonny? Read it out to me.**

      “Romans 1:27. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error.” Towada feels his lips moving, but he doesn’t hear his voice speaking. This voice is different. It’s weak, tired, weary. It sounds nothing like the happy tones that Towada used to know; it lacks any sort of mannerism that it had had before.

      **This is your penalty, sonny.**

      **Do you understand?**

      “You’ll… you’ll shock me until I’m better.”

      **We’re just leading you in the right direction, the direction that God intended. This is the weight of your decision. Men are not meant to kiss other men. A man can only be fruitful and multiply if he is with a woman. Do you understand?**

      When Towada responds with a _no_ , he’s hooked up to the machine again. He struggles, oh _Lord_ he does, he recites Leviticus 18:22 again and again in the hope that they’ll see that he’s willing to change, but they don’t listen. They plug his ears this time, forcing him to listen to white noise. This way, he can’t hear his own screaming. The only place he can hide is in his mind,

      and even now, it’s failing him.

      **“Is our son better?”**

      Towada hears the _thud_ at last. The sound of the machine toppling off its table and onto the floor, crashing. He blinks, opens his eyes. His geometry kit’s on the ground, his protractor, compass, pencil, _everything_ strewn on the ground. And then, he looks up. Everyone’s exam papers are shut. No, no. Not shut. They’re gone, all of them. Including Towada’s. His end of year exam, and it’s been left completely blank.

      “There must be a reason,” Sanada said, still holding the paper up. Towada’s eyes followed the paper, followed the big red U that was branded on the black and white paper. It stood out, much more than Towada would’ve liked. His eyes were drawn to it. “What aren’t you telling me, Towada-kun?”

      He came to this university because Sanada was here.

      He dyed his hair blonde, started wearing fake glasses, changed his entire look so that Sanada wouldn’t recognise him.

      Sanada, the same man that Towada’s parents punished him for loving. It was five years ago, back when he was thirteen and Towada was the seventeen-year-old high school student who lived next door. Towada had been completely different then, looked completely different. His voice had been more excitable, his stomach had boasted just how much he liked to eat and his hair had even been in a _mullet_. But Sanada, he looked just the same as he had in his teenage years.

      His lips still felt the same too.

      “Twelve months of shock therapy,” Towada began to say, “and I’m still in love with you, Shunpei.”

      The look of understanding that flashed in Sanada’s eyes said it all. A soft smile crossed the teacher’s lips as he sets the test paper down at last and reaches out for Towada’s shoulder.

      This time, Towada doesn’t pull back. He feels the electricity, but it’s a different kind of electricity. It bubbles up from his gut, making him feel slightly disoriented, but he’s extremely aware of his surroundings. He’s aware of Sanada’s eyes, which are focused solely on his.

      “Yoshiki,” he said softly, his tone one that would be reserved for a lover. “I’m sorry.”

      “So am I,” responded the student, whose eyes were still boring into Sanada’s.

      “We’ll grab some coffee,” Sanada said, grabbing some vouchers from his desk. These vouchers were a lot more colourful than Towada’s exam paper, and they were a lot nicer to look at. “And then, we can work this out. How does that sound?”

      “Good.” And Towada meant it this time. It really did sound good.

***

      “I don’t want your money,” Towada snarled, sliding the thousand-yen notes back on the table. “You gangs think you can solve everything with money, don’t you? How many people died for this blood money?”

      “The only thing that died was our freedom,” Suga said, an eerily peaceful look on his face. When Kageyama took another step forward, Towada stood up, no longer able to take this level of intimidation. He wanted to speak, but the look that Kageyama was giving him… it rendered him speechless. Kageyama had utter disgust in that expression of his, disdain made clear by the way his eyes remained narrowed in that same, signature expression of his.

      “Towada,” Kageyama said, the venom in his voice so _potent_ that it could’ve easily been a swear word rather than someone’s name, “you are a dog. Nothing more, nothing less. Don’t act like you’re above our money. You’re beneath it. Dogs like you will spend it all on strippers and alcohol,” he added, now moving to sit opposite Towada, “but it just so happens you’re a dog who can do tricks.” Suga and Tsukishima were stood either side of the chair Kageyama was sitting at, directing all of their hate at Towada without speaking.

      Towada gritted his teeth together, squinting his eyes as he tried to think of some sort of trump card that could get him out of this situation. He could easily get killed by these men if he declined their money. But if he accepts their money, he has to leave. _Accepting the money isn’t an option. He knows that_. But…

      “What, so you’re my owner now?”

      Kageyama’s lips quirked for a brief moment at the thought, but then his eyes only narrowed even further. “If I were your owner, I would’ve had you put down the second you dared to put your filthy paws on me, Towada.”

      A shiver crawled down Towada’s spine at these words, although he tried his best not to show any more fear on his face than was necessary.

      “Oh, Kageyama. Let’s not be too mean to him,” Tsukishima said, a smirk on his lips. “We might _scare_ him. It wouldn’t be good if we had him running off with his tail between his legs now, would it?”

      “It’s okay. Sanada-sensei will save him,” Suga piped in, sunny smile on his face. “Oh wait, I forgot. Towada here doesn’t like gang members.” Towada stood up when he heard the name _Sanada_ , pulled his baton out and moved to swing at Suga. He was oblivious to the way Kageyama was glaring at him, oblivious to the way Tsukishima was glaring. He was only aware of the fact that these three men had uncovered his past, aware that they knew _everything about him_. Of course, Towada didn’t manage to hit Suga, but it didn’t stop him from trying.

      “You don’t know anything about Sanada! Shut up! Shut _up_!” He swung wildly, trying to get a hit on Suga, on Tsukishima, on _anyone_ , but of course, his every attempt failed. At last, he flung the baton to the ground, knowing that it was useless against Karasuno. Towada wanted nothing more than for the Karasuno members to leave him alone, but he could hear Kageyama’s smooth voice, probing and discovering his innermost thoughts.

      “He was living a double life. It was West Tokyo, and he was the head of Yakushi, a gang Nekoma had business with on the outside. But to you, he was Sanada-sensei who taught mathematics at To-Oh University and gave you kisses from time to time.” Kageyama looked down at the baton for a few moments, then his eyelashes swept upwards as his gaze was directed right back to Towada’s. The C.O. fell right back into his seat, almost as if he’d been affected by the sheer force of Kageyama’s expression. It was as if he had been drained of everything, life and all. “And when he confessed this double life to you, you turned him in. Your morality overcame your love. And—”

      “No. You’re wrong,” Towada whispered. Then, as if remembering just who he was, he raised his voice. “You’re wrong! I didn’t love him. Who the hell are you to tell me? You were still a little brat when I was in university! All of you were! Just stupid, _shitty_ little brats!”

      “The whole prison knows what a hypocrite you are,” Tsukishima said, eyes just as sharp as usual. It was as if he hadn’t even heard Towada. “We’ll tell them even more, Towada. Aida might’ve said we can’t hurt you, but that doesn’t mean we plan to sit down like good little boys either. What will it be?”

      **What will it be, sonny?**

      Towada’s limbs stiffened when he heard the voice in his mind. _No. Not now_.

**Towada’s eyes swing open. And then, he can’t shut them. He’s staring straight into the eyes of his tormentor, although he doesn’t see himself that way. He wants to cover his own eyes; he wants to look away, but he can’t. His arms are belted down to this chair. _He’s on a chair_. He pulls on his restraints, but he can feel the wires hooked to his fingers, his wrists. He can see the scary machine that sits nearby, the same machine that his tormentor is approaching.**

      “Stop it,” Towada yelled. “Stop!” His voice sounded raspy, weak.

      _Which voice is this?_

      He’s not sure what’s real or not anymore. He keeps hearing all these voices, so many voices, but he doesn’t know which one to listen to. There’s Kageyama’s calm yet controlling cadence, then there’s Tsukishima’s condescending tone, and then there’s that one voice.

      **Will you repent, or will I have to call these devilish desires out of you?**

      And then the electricity’s dancing up Towada’s arms — no, not dancing, it’s _zapping_ up his arms, burning his insides and causing him to let out the most guttural groan known to man. And at this moment, he just wants to die the most gruesome death there is, but then…

      “Make Takeru disappear, and you’ll have enough money to do whatever you want.” Towada heard Suga’s calm, sweet voice. It was so different to all of the controlling voices in his head that he was able to focus just on that, focus on the words.

      _It’s just like Sanada’s voice_ , he thinks for some moments, the dark-haired teacher appearing in his mind. _It’s calm, and it’s slow enough that I can understand_.

      Towada blinked, focusing his attention back on the three men. He’s aware of the beads of sweat rolling down his forehead, drenching his clothes and the rapid breaths leaving his lips. He reins it in, moving his hands off the chair he’s sitting on and placing them on the table. There was no electricity. He knew that now. But, his reaction alone had already caused him to lose yet another battle against Kageyama. He couldn’t do anything but give in.

      “Don’t tell them about the conversion therapy,” Towada said at last, reaching over the table and taking the thousand-yen notes. “Keep it to yourselves, and I’ll do whatever you want.”

      He rolled his sleeve down, hiding the tattoo that was situated just below his wrist. S.S.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright y'all, so here's a history lesson for anyone who's interested in the topic of conversion therapy! (this might get a little wordy, but bear with me)
> 
> Prior to 1981, there weren't many limits when it came to conversion therapy. Gay or lesbian individuals could be subjected to:  
> \- Ice-pick lobotomies, an extreme method which left over 3,000 individuals severely disabled for the rest of their lives (including John F. Kennedy's sister, Rosemary). Ice-pick lobotomies were popularised by Dr. Walter Freeman, and the procedure went as follows: The surgeon would enter the prefrontal area through the patient’s eye sockets, using an instrument that resembled a common household ice pick. They would then use this instrument to scrape away areas of the brain.  
> \- Chemical castration  
> \- Torture drugs  
> \- 'Masturbatory reconditioning' (so, being forced to masturbate to porn depicting the opposite sex).  
> \- Shock therapy, as I've depicted in this chapter.
> 
> Parents, upon discovering that their children were gay, could force them to go into conversion therapy against their will. They often did. There were no laws that could prevent them from doing so. Minors could be kept in isolation for days, weeks, and they could even face physical abuse (such as Lyn Duff's case in 1993, San Francisco, where her mother admitted her to a psychiatric centre, only for Duff to be abused under the guise of conversion therapy).
> 
> Now, I say that this was all prior to 1981, but some unlicensed practices in the US and other countries continued to carry out these techniques late into the 2000s.
> 
> Today, conversion therapy for minors is legal in 40 states of the USA, the ten exceptions being New Jersey, District of Colombia, Vermont, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Nevada, Illinois, Conneticut and California.
> 
> It's also legal in Australia (some believe conversion therapy originated from Australia, although there aren't any viable sources that support this theory). They've tried to curb the use of conversion therapy for minors (although it hasn't proved to be successful) and it's legal for consenting adults.
> 
> Conversion therapy is also legal in the UK, despite the fact that the NHS, along with all major counselling and psychotherapy bodies, have condemned it by signing a Memorandum of Understanding. In 2017, a petition to make conversion therapy a criminal offence was dismissed by Theresa May's government. Despite being widely discredited as unethical and ineffective, there are many countries out there today that refuse to make conversion therapy illegal. Conversion therapy is mainly pushed by religious organisations, such as NARTH (National Association for Research & Therapy of Sexuality) who use 'religious justification' as an excuse for conversion therapy.
> 
> While the techniques mentioned above are now considered to be unethical, places which practice conversion therapy are still permitted to do things such as 'spiritual interventions', visualisation and psychoanalytic therapy. Homosexual people that are made to undergo conversion therapy often report it making them feel suicidal, end up with high levels of depression and in some extreme cases, experience dysmorphia. It's been proven time and time again that conversion therapy doesn't actually solve the problem. The reason for that is because there’s no problem to solve in the first place, since it’s based on the homophobic belief that there’s something wrong with having a sexual orientation that isn’t straight.  
> The only question is, why are our governments not listening?


	11. Birthday Present

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> [heads up, there's a lot of suffering]  
> [also, heads up, there's another flashback. and another in the next chapter, lmao. I'm sorry, I know there's been a lot of flashback chapters as of recent, but they'll phase out soon]  
> 

Chapter Eleven: Birthday Present

      “Hey, Hinata.”

      Hinata looked up from the ceiling he’d been staring blankly at. Terushima was lying down in his own futon, although he was staring over in Hinata’s direction. It was early in the morning, probably six a.m. judging by the light that was coming through the window. “What is it?”

      “You ready to tell me what’s up with you?” Terushima slid a box in his direction, one which was probably the same size as a hot water bottle. It was made out of cardboard, but had purple paper stuck over it to make it look more appealing. Terushima had even placed an origami crane on top of it. “Happy birthday, by the way. I remembered.”

      It was June 21st at last, Hinata’s birthday. On a day like this, he usually would’ve woken up to the smell of Yachi’s cooking. But, after everything that had been going down in the prison, his birthday had been the last thing on his mind. If anything, he wanted to pretend that this year didn’t exist.

      “Thank you.” Hinata went to open the box, but Terushima yelled out a “Don’t!” Hinata pulled his hand back quickly, causing Terushima to chuckle to himself mere moments later. When Hinata stared up at Terushima with a quizzical expression on his face, the blonde continued to explain.

      “I don’t want you to open that box until you’re feeling sad.”

      “Until I’m feeling sad,” Hinata repeated, his curiosity only further roused.

      “Yeah.” Terushima nodded. “Let’s say I’ve been sent to the SHU for some stupid shit, and something happens to you. I don’t know. Someone you’re close to on the outside gets hurt. Then, you have my permission to open that box. Promise me, Hinata. You’ll only open that box when you feel like the world’s going to collapse any moment and bring you down with it.”

      Hinata picked the box up, testing its weight. It didn’t feel too heavy, considering that Terushima seemed to be implying that it would make him pretty damn happy. _Maybe it’s an ounce of weed and some paper to roll it up with_ , he thought. “I can’t keep it in the dorm, can I?”

      Terushima thought to himself for a second before responding. “You can for now,” he said at last, “but if you can think of anywhere safer to put it, I’d like if you put it there.” Hinata nodded and got to his feet, darting over to the cabinet. He placed the box on top of it before hurrying back to the futon, wrapping himself up in his blanket. Terushima had a fond smile on his face as he watched Hinata doing this.

      Once Hinata had made himself comfortable once again, he turned to face Terushima. “Can I tell you something?”

      “Can I ask you something?” It just so happened that Terushima chose to open his mouth at the same time. The both of them laughed, Terushima waving his hand as he told Hinata to go ahead.

      “No, no. It doesn’t matter.” Hinata had been about to blurt out just what was happening with Takeru, but he knew that he’d run the risk of killing the mood. “I was just going to say that I… I’m going to be busy today. And stuff. What were you going to—”

      “Hinata. Do you really think it’s that easy to lie to me?” Terushima grinned this time, throwing Hinata off guard. “Come on. What’s up? I worry about you, you know.”

      “Well…” Hinata squinted his eyes shut, considering the best way to word himself. He found himself seriously considering backing out and just brushing it off as nothing, but then Terushima spoke once again.

      “We’re celebrating your birthday today, so don’t think we’re letting you go without a fight. The others are probably going to sleep ‘til noon like a bunch of fatasses,” he said, letting out a snort of laughter, “but believe me when I say these guys know how to _party_. If you ask _real_ nice, I’m sure Tsucchi will let you try some prison hooch. He bought it off Tsutomu. You know him? He’s with Shiratorizawa. He makes all sorts, but he only sells it to certain people. Don’t you ever go to him,” Terushima said, his tone slowly beginning to dip into a scolding one, “he’ll probably try and sell you his ‘special prison meth’. It’s made out of PVA glue, bleach and god-knows-what. You’ll die if you snort that shit—”

      “Terushima, can you _shut the fuck up_? It’s _six in the morning_ ,” Bobata yelled from the adjacent square, having grown tired of listening to Terushima’s yelling. “Learn to control your voice!”

      Hinata smiled this time, the first time he’d smiled in a while. He hadn’t had a chance to sit down and actually _speak_ with the people in his dorm. He was always out, always being used as Takeru’s little puppet. If he told someone, it would only get worse. Not to mention, they’d _pity him_. And he didn’t want to be pitied. He didn’t want anyone else to worry about him. So…

      “Hey, Hinata.”

      Hinata blinked hard, surprised when he realised that there were tears coming out of his eyes.

      “You know you can talk to me, right? Wait, let me guess. Is it _Kageyama_?”

      The name sounded like a curse when it left Terushima’s lips. Actually, no. A curse would be a mild way of putting it. To say that Terushima hated Kageyama would be an understatement. But, since Hinata liked him so much, Terushima just had to sit back and tolerate it.

      “No. It’s Takeru,” he said at last, his voice barely a whisper.

      “What’s… what’s he done?” Terushima was scared to hear the answer, but he couldn’t let Hinata suffer in silence. Not now.

      “I can’t… I can’t say.”

      “Hinata. I promise you,” Terushima said, moving closer so that he could take both of Hinata’s hands in his. “Whatever it is, I’ll protect you. But… I need to know. So, please. I can’t bear to see the pain in your eyes anymore.”

      “He’s… he’s…” There was a lump in Hinata’s throat, making it hard for him to get the words out. But Terushima waited patiently, maintaining eye contact with Hinata the whole time.

      “It’s okay,” Terushima whispered, wiping a tear away from Hinata’s cheek.

      “No,” Hinata gulped, shaking his head. “It’s not. He’s… he’s raping me.”

      Terushima didn’t hesitate to get up, abandoning his futon as he began to put on his boots. Hinata was slightly alarmed by how quickly Terushima had jumped to the occasion, so alarmed that the words kind of got stuck in his throat for a moment. But when Terushima reached for a pair of fingerless gloves which were made out of leather, Hinata had to intervene.

      “T—Terushima.” The blonde still put his gloves on, even though he turned to face Hinata. The rage in his eyes was so intense that Hinata faltered for a moment before speaking. “Don’t do anything. Please.”

      “But…” He began to pace back and forth in their little square, the frustration clear in his face. “I really won’t be able to forgive myself if I don’t do anything about it. I’m just going to make use of my martial arts, that’s all. If he decides to fight back, so be it.”

      Terushima had suspected that there was something weird going on, but now that he knew the truth, he was angry. Not only at himself, but at Takeru for having the audacity to do such a thing.

      “Terushima. You can’t.”

      “I’m not the head of the Johzenji for nothing, you know.” He slapped a hand to his chest before continuing. “I know how to put up a good fight. Think of it as your second birthday present!”

      Terushima sounded so optimistic that Hinata really did feel like he could trust him to go and take Takeru on, but the reality kept poking into Hinata’s mind. Takeru would get him jumped, and then he’d come after the rest of the Johzenji. He couldn’t let Terushima get involved.

      “He said… if I tell anyone about what he’s doing to me, h—he’ll—”

      “Hurt your family? Hurt us?” Terushima rolled his eyes, but when he saw the genuine concern in Hinata’s eyes, he let out a sigh. He bent down and grabbed a bottle, turning it over in his hands for a few moments. Then, he moved over to Hinata and held up the bottle so that Hinata could see it clearly. “This bottle is you, Hinata. See, since it’s got a bit of an orange tint to it. Bottles are incredibly useful. While they pale in comparison to weed and Spicy Cheetos, bottles are useful. This bottle in particular, while it’s small, it’s very mighty. It has the power to take a life if you use it right. It can also save lives. If some guy’s threatening to shoot up a bank and you smash him on the head with a bottle, then you’ve just saved an entire bank. Hey, maybe they’d give you some money for saving them! That would be pretty rad, huh?”

      Hinata smiled, although he didn’t understand the point of this analogy. “I guess.”

      “Now,” he said, rifling around for something in his possession box. It was a small, metal box which held the few possessions Terushima had. At last, he pulled out a single metallic ring and placed it on his middle finger. Then, he returned to the kneeling position he’d been in before and stuck his middle finger up at the bottle. “This is Takeru. A bit of bling, and suddenly he thinks he’s hot shit. He disrespects everyone he comes across, and just when you think he’s gone, he reappears. It’s as if there’s two copies.” Terushima stuck his other blingless middle finger up to illustrate his point. Hinata giggled at this. “Now, this finger is also small. It’s not like the bottle. It’s only useful when it’s part of a set, part of a group. One finger on its own can’t do much.” He began to push his finger against the bottle, tapping the glass a couple of times. “This finger, it can keep annoying the bottle. But, no matter what, this finger will never be able to break the bottle. Do you know why, Hinata?”

      Hinata stared at him, having gotten lost in Terushima’s analogy. It still didn’t make sense to him. “Uh… it wants to keep the bottle because it’s useful?”

      “No. Because it can’t break the bottle. No matter how much stress this one finger puts on the bottle,” Terushima said, suddenly pushing the bottle back with as much strength as possible, “it will never break. As long as someone’s holding onto that bottle, it’ll never break. And that’s because the bottle is much, much stronger than the finger. It appears fragile, because if you drop it from high places, it shatters to pieces. But… if someone’s there to put that bottle back together, it’ll be as if it never broke. And because this bottle’s the best at jumping,” Terushima said, tapping Hinata on the nose, “it’s always in high places. It can easily rival the five litre bottles of lemonade, or the decanters full of some expensive vodka. And since it’s so used to being in high places, it just… puts itself back together.”

      “I’m lost,” Hinata said at last. “What do you mean?”

      Terushima thought to himself for a few moments, before speaking once again. “Are you familiar with kintsugi? Or kintsukuroi?”

      Hinata shook his head, but then a lightbulb shot off in his head. “Wait. I know. Kintsugi’s that guy from Fate/Zero, right?”

      “No, silly. That’s _Kiritsugu_.”

      Hinata felt a slight pang of happiness at the fact that Terushima seemed to be an anime fan. After all, in this prison, anime fans seemed to be far and between.

      “Kintsugi is a method of putting broken pottery back together,” Terushima explained, knowing that he had Hinata’s undivided attention. “Instead of trying to make it look brand new, the fact that it was broken in the first place is incorporated into the design. It’s put back together using a paste made out of gold.”

      At this point, the sun was finally beginning to appear in the sky. The beginning rays of sunlight were peeking through the windows, shining on Hinata and making him appear as if he were glowing.

      “I don’t know if this story makes sense to you, but…”

      “I’m starting to understand.”

      “Thank God,” Terushima said, letting out a sigh of relief as he pulled the ring off his middle finger. “Well, you and I both know what happened. This little finger lost his street cred after getting punched in the face by the head finger, but he’s still trying to cling onto it.” To illustrate his point, Terushima got one middle finger to ‘punch’ the middle finger he’d dubbed as Takeru, causing the middle finger to dive for cover behind its ring.

      “You used both middle fingers,” Hinata observed. “Are you saying that they’re the same?”

      “Yeah,” Terushima responded. “They’re both natural leaders. But, that’s not the point. Look at the bottle in your hands. It’s unbothered, unaffected. Do you know what that means?”

      When Hinata didn’t respond, Terushima filled in the silence for him.

      “You are stronger than Takeru, Hinata. I’ll even bless you.” He took the bottle out of Hinata’s hand at last and kissed the bottle, a goofy grin on his face as he placed it to one side. “There you go.”

      Seeing this, a flush began to creep up Hinata’s neck, although he was hoping Terushima wouldn’t notice. Terushima did in fact notice, but he decided not to bring attention to it.

      “If Takeru decides to come after us, we’re more than capable of defending ourselves. Light up a bowl, and we’re ready to square up with just about anyone. And you, Hinata. You’re not as weak as you think you are. You’ve got the strength of the Johzenji behind you. You’re a bottle, but do you know what I am? A Swiss Knife.” Terushima put his hand up, probably about to place it on Hinata’s shoulder, but at the last minute changed his mind and decided to use it to pick himself off the ground, handing the bottle over to Hinata once again. “Keep the bottle, alright? Remind yourself how much of a badass you are.”

      Hinata smiled. “Alright. Thanks, Terushima.”

      “Don’t thank me yet. Let’s get this party started!” He waltzed out of the square, yelling “Who’s ready to get down and have some fun?”

      He was shut down almost instantly by Bobata and Higashiyama, who both yelled at him to “shut the fuck up”. Terushima slunk back into his square, only to be greeted with genuine laughter from Hinata.

      “You’re staying here today then?”

      Hinata nodded. He was meant to be meeting Takeru in their ‘spot’ (he’d been told in not-so-kind words by the man himself, after all) but it was his birthday. And Terushima was right. He was a bottle, damnit. He wouldn’t be stopped by a finger with some fancy bling. “If you guys really do know how to get down, I wouldn’t want to miss out.”

      “Good.” He smiled and got back into his own futon at last, pulling out some manga from beneath his small pillow. He looked over at Hinata, who was studying his bottle closely. Then, he turned his attention back to the manga that he was reading, chuckling every so often at some especially humorous panels.

      “You’re reading Boku no Hero Academia too?!”

      Terushima turned to see the awestruck look on Hinata’s face. Hinata scrambled to pull out his own copy of the next volume, showing it to Terushima. He’d managed to find it in the library, much to his surprise. He hadn’t expected to find _manga_ in a prison. Then again, it was Fukurodani. You could find a lot more under this roof than you could on the outside.

      “Hell yeah.” Terushima grinned. “It’s a guilty pleasure of mine. The others aren’t really into manga, but…”

      “Ochako’s best girl.”

      “No way,” Terushima said, letting out a mock gasp. “Midnight’s best girl.”

      “Sorry, I didn’t realise you were Mineta,” Hinata said, snorting with laughter.

      “Shut _up_. That’s a whole new level of disrespect,” Terushima said, throwing a button in Hinata’s direction. Hinata looked down at the button and threw it back at Terushima, who caught it one-handed. “I’d rather be Bakugou. Explosions, _yes please_. He’s so cool.”

      “You just told me why you can’t be Bakugou.” Hinata smirked.

      “Hey! I am most definitely cool! You know I can do backflips? I’ll even do one right now—”

      “Terushima, _shut the fuck up_!” This time, it was Bobata, Higa, Tsuchiyu and Numajiri (so, everyone except Terushima himself and Hinata) who were yelling at him to shut up. He flushed this time, before whispering a “Sorry” to no-one in particular. Terushima eventually shifted over to Hinata’s futon, bringing the manga with him, and the two discussed each panels, appreciating the dialogue and the fights until the time for count came. It went so fast that Hinata was surprised when he heard Bobata yelling “The C.Os are coming!”

      Terushima quickly got up and placed his manga to one side, directing Hinata to place his purple box in his metal possessions box. The only thing he’d had in there before were his two journals from Kageyama. Now, he had the orange bottle and the purple box to add to his collection.

      The two men walked out of their square, standing to attention as the C.O. walked in. There was a sudden spike in Hinata’s heartbeat as he made eye contact with the C.O., realising that it was the same C.O. that Takeru had bought. Dark hair, lifeless eyes. “Everything looks orderly around here,” he said at last, despite not having looked around that much. “Inmate. I’m going to need you to come with me.” He jabbed his finger in Hinata’s face, causing Hinata to take a step back.

      “What do you need with him?” The C.O’s gaze turned to Terushima, who had a hostile expression on his face. “It’s only half seven. Surely there’s no pressing matter this time of the day, is there?”

      “That’s none of your concern, inmate.” He turned his attention back to Hinata, whose facial expression was practically frozen on his face. His eyes weren’t moving. It was as if he’d stopped breathing, too. One touch would just… knock him over. “Come on. You haven’t got all day.”

      “Hey. You hearing me, bud? I asked you—”

      “Terushima. It’s fine.” Hinata tried to smile, although it was obviously forced. Terushima had been making Hinata laugh and smile for the past two hours. There was no way this smile was genuine. “I’m a bottle, remember?”

      That was the last thing Hinata said to him before walking alongside the C.O., who prodded him every so often to make him walk faster. Terushima really was burning with frustration at seeing this, but he knew running out and confronting the C.O. wouldn’t solve anything. He had to confront the root of the problem. And clearly, the rest of the Johzenji knew it too.

      “That’s hella suspicious, isn’t it?” Bobata walked over to Terushima once the C.O. had left, the corners of his lips pulling into a frown. “I don’t like this. Considering Hinata’s track record with C.Os as well…”

      “I have an idea,” Higa said, licking barbecue sauce off his fingers. No-one knew how, but he’d somehow managed to get his hands on a full rack of barbecue ribs. The rumour was that he’d had some sort of bet with a C.O. and the C.O. had ended up bringing him the ribs as part of this bet. Higa wasn’t telling anyone anything, though. He’d been devouring them every so often over the past two days, although it appeared that he was reaching his last few ribs. “We should just reach out to Karasuno. Their leader likes Hinata and all, so…”

      “No. We’re not doing that,” Terushima found himself saying. His lips had started moving before he was even aware of it. “The bastard’s too busy running his kingdom. _I am Kageyama Tobio. This is my prison. Don’t oppose me otherwise I’ll kill you. Well, I won’t do it personally. I’ll get someone to do it and then take credit for it, because I’m a fucking pussy_ ,” Terushima droned in his best Kageyama impression. “You know, I bet he wasn’t even the one who ‘annihilated’ Kitagawa Daiichi. That’s the story everyone hears about him when they first come here, but I bet two whole packs of ramen that it wasn’t him. With seasoning.”

      “Ooh, Terushima, you sure it’s that serious? ‘Cause this stomach is looking to house some ramen,” Tsuchiyu said, shuffling his way into Terushima’s square. “Where’s the ramen at? Also, what flavour? I need me some Bombay Bad Boy. Although, Terushima, you need to find yourself a boy point _blank_. How long has it been since you last fucked someone?”

      “ _Fuck off_ ,” Terushima groaned, trying to pull Tsuchiyu out of his room. The rest of the Johzenji simply laughed at him, moving into his square and deciding to make themselves at home.

      “It’s alright, guys. I heard him flirting with Hinata earlier this morning over that manga series he likes. What is it, Bottle the Sea Mania?”

      Terushima didn’t even bother to correct Bobata. He was used to his friends botching up manga titles. In fact, his personal favourite was when they mistook ‘Shingeki no Kyojin’ for ‘Singing with Cool Kids’. (They were very taken aback when they learnt that Shingeki no Kyojin didn’t involve any singing. Even more so when they also learnt that a lot of the cool kids ended up being eaten by Titans.)

      “Don’t be stupid. I wasn’t flirting,” Terushima said, trying to laugh it off. “I’m not even his type. You know, I kind of lack that dictator edge that Kageyama has…”

      The rest of them stared at him for a few moments, then they all jumped on him and noogied him, practically tackling him down to the ground. “Ahh! Our little Terushima’s got it _bad_ ,” Tsuchiyu crooned, sitting down on his legs so that he couldn’t move. “Guys, this is monumental.”

      “Monumental? Tsucchi, he’s liked Hinata since he stepped off that damn prison van,” Numajiri quietly interjected. His calm voice was such a contrast from all the energy in the square that everyone stopped for a few moments, stared at him and then began laughing.

      “Seriously, I was starting to wonder if you’d lost your voice,” Higa joked, punching Numajiri’s arm.”

      “We can talk about my love life later,” Terushima grumbled, folding his arms in protest. “I don’t think that C.O’s playing it straight. He’s clearly on Takeru’s payroll, not the prison’s.”

      “Let’s leave it until breakfast,” Bobata proposed. Breakfast was just under an hour from now. “If we don’t see Hinata then, we’ll go and look for him. There’s not that many places to hide, you know. If it turns out that something’s going on, we’ll sort it out. Martial arts hasn’t failed us before, has it?” Bobata pulled a kung-fu pose for humorous effect, only to get chopped on the head by Higa. “Ow, you asshole! That hurt, damnit.”

      “I say we look for him now,” Higa said. “That C.O. looked _shady_.”

      Before the men could reach a decision, they were interrupted by the sudden entry of yet another C.O., who was yelling for all of the inmates to stand for attention. “Count time, inmates! Outside your squares!”

      _Wait, what?_

      They all turned to look at one another, the blood slowly draining out of their faces.

      “And what kind of fatass was eating _barbecue ribs_?”

      Higa stared over at the C.O., so shocked that he forgot to take offence at her insult. “But… we just had count…”

      Without another word, Tsuchiyu got off Terushima’s legs, saying one last sentence to the rest of the men. “I have a bad feeling about this.”

***

      Hinata was pushed into the greenhouse by the C.O., and then the door slammed shut. There were some pots in there, wooden flooring and some compost that had spilled out onto the ground. Most importantly, there was Takeru. He was stood at the centre of the greenhouse, staring straight ahead at Hinata. Ever since Kageyama had punched Takeru in the face, Hinata hadn’t had to see Takeru. For two blissful weeks, Hinata had been given the pleasure of not having to see him. Hinata had been in Oikawa’s office, speaking to him on a daily basis. Although Hinata wasn’t confident enough to tell Oikawa what Takeru was doing to him, he was still able to talk to Oikawa about things that he wouldn’t usually talk about. He’d spoken a little bit about his childhood, although he knew that his childhood definitely paled in comparison to his peers’ childhoods. That was how Hinata’s temporary Takeru-free days had gone. But now, Takeru was ensuing his hold over Hinata once again.

      “Happy birthday, Shou-chan.”

      Hinata wasn’t surprised when a smile pulled on the smaller man’s lips (although, he was a little shocked by the new lip piercing that he’d acquired). “I know you were hoping to see my dead body for a present, but you won’t be getting that. Instead, I’m offering your dumbass a first class ticket to hell.” When Takeru pulled out a garden fork, Hinata was prepared. After all the shit that Takeru had pulled, he’d been expecting it. He reached for a rake behind him, one which was significantly larger than Takeru’s choice of weapon.

      “The only one that’s going to hell is you! Bottles only go to bottle heaven!”

      Takeru frowned. “ _Bottle heaven_? What the hell are you on about?”

      Before Takeru could ponder on it, Hinata began to run at him with the rake, one single phrase in his mind. _Attack first, think later_. Everyone in his life was so strong. Kageyama, being able to trigger riots with a few simple words. Kageyama, having the power to eliminate anything and everything. The Johzenji, being able to bet, bribe and karate-chop their way out of situations. Terushima, being able to take away his worries with a few silly jokes and comparisons. Everyone, supporting him. Being there for him.

      It’s all worth nothing if he doesn’t use their strength to defend himself.

      “Oh, is my little Shou-chan getting ambitious?”

      Hinata had been so focused on trying to hit Takeru with the rake that he didn’t realise that the door had opened once again. The rake was yanked out of his hand and thrown roughly to one side, causing the glass panes of the greenhouse to convulse. There were hands clamped on each side of his body, holding him in place.

      “Don’t you remember Kotomine? He was a fellow helper of mine. And now, he’s going to help me take out the trash.” Hinata didn’t remember Kotomine, but he didn’t have to be a genius to know that Kotomine was probably dangerous. Either way, this guy was a C.O., so Hinata couldn’t do anything against him. Hinata was struggling in Kotomine’s grip, trying his best to break free when he realised that Takeru was drawing closer with his garden fork. Hinata didn’t know what Takeru was going to do to him, but he knew it was going to hurt. A lot.

      “I am a bottle,” he whispered to himself, clenching his muscles as tightly as he could before thrashing in Kotomine’s arms one last time. “I am a bottle!”

      He stamped down on Kotomine’s foot, _hard_ , causing the man behind him to let out a pained groan. Hinata swerved out of the fork’s trajectory, narrowly missing the sharpened prongs. Instead, they dug into the stomach of the C.O., causing him to let out a groan.

      “Oh, Shou-chan! Look what you made me do,” Takeru said, knowing that he had Hinata’s full attention. Slowly, he drove the fork even deeper into the C.O’s stomach, despite Hinata’s protests for him to stop. “You did this, Shou-chan. How rude, huh? You know he has a family?”

      Kotomine was staring back at Takeru, and while he had a pained expression on his face, he didn’t speak. He knew how Takeru operated, and if this was how Takeru chose to end his life, so be it. He pledged his loyalty to this man, and he was going to die knowing that he’d been one of Takeru’s best allies.

      “I hope… I hope I was able to do enough for you… Boss.”

      “Jeez, Kotomine! You’re not dead yet!” He pulled the fork out of Kotomine’s stomach and licked the blood off one prong, shivering at the metallic taste on his tongue. Hinata wanted to close his eyes, and he felt himself throwing up into the nearest plant pot at one point, but he didn’t close his eyes. If he closed his eyes, the next time he'd open them, he’d see something even more horrific. So, Hinata forced his eyes open, forced them open when Takeru began to stab Kotomine like a madman, staining the C.O. uniform with scarlet red blood. It was pooling on the floor as Kotomine was brought to his knees, his eyes glassing over as Takeru kicked his body to the ground. As the light hit Kotomine’s body, Hinata could see the hundreds of holes that were allowing the blood to pool out, congealing in the blue fabric of his uniform.

      “This is your fault! Shou-chan, you did this! This is what happens when you can’t take your own punishments!” Takeru was yelling similar phrases over and over again with every time he drew back to stab him with the fork, shouting at the half-dead body every time the fork got lodged in his body. “This man is your scapegoat! He’s paying the price for everything you’ve done, Shou-chan! You’re filth. Absolute _filth_.”

      Hinata wasn’t sure exactly when he shut off, but he did. His eyes were still open. He was still watching Takeru, still listening to Takeru’s hurtful words. But, it was as if he were a bottle floating away at sea. The water was washing over him, it was touching him, but it wasn’t really changing his composition. No matter how many waves crashed into him, no matter how many waves forced him into the high tide of the sea, he always remained the same at the end of it all. It just so happened that these particular waves were fuelled by Takeru’s seemingly insatiable rage, and these waves weren’t made out of simple salt water. They were made of blood.

      “Go on, Shou-chan. Look at what you’ve done.”

      Takeru tossed the fork in Hinata’s direction, knowing that he’d managed to shock Hinata once again. Hinata didn’t operate well under shock or stress, after all. Hinata would always try to fight against him, but Hinata seemed to be forgetting that he had weaknesses, weaknesses which Takeru knew about. Takeru would exploit every last weakness, every single time.

      Hinata warily got to his feet, but he didn’t move from his spot. He stood there, simply staring into blank space.

      “I _said_ , look at what you’ve done. I worked so hard to make your birthday special, and you’re not even going to appreciate it? You’re always so selfish. Forcing me to take advantage of you,” he said, grabbing Hinata by the neck of his shirt and pushing him against the glass pane of the greenhouse. “Why can’t you just give yourself to me willingly? You think you’re special? You think you’re worthy enough to tell me to wait? Worthy enough to kill me? To run away from me? You can’t escape from me, Shou-chan. You understand?”

      He waited for Hinata to respond. But he only stared at Takeru with that same blank expression in his eyes, as if he wasn’t really there at all. Takeru just didn’t understand. Takeru was used to hearing Hinata tell him that he was immoral, that his actions were bad, that this was bad, that he was fucked up, that he was this and that. Takeru wasn’t used to hearing silence.

      “Shou-chan. Answer me. Do you think you can just escape this through silence? What do you think this is, huh?”

      Again, Hinata neglected to respond. No amount of intimidation would allow him to speak. At least, that was what Takeru had deduced. Hinata with his dilated pupils, Hinata with that aimless expression of his. Sometimes it was blank, but sometimes his eyes would just wander. To be honest, it was beginning to scare Takeru a little. He wanted Hinata to just say something. To fight, maybe. Where was the fighting spirit that he’d had when he’d first walked in? Why was he giving up so easily?”

      Takeru let Hinata go at last. Hinata didn’t even attempt to stop himself from falling, just collapsed to his knees and stayed there, his body limp against the ground. It was as if he were dead. If it wasn’t for the fact that Takeru could still see his chest moving, he would’ve genuinely believed that Hinata was dead. Takeru crouched down, no longer able to tolerate Hinata’s silence.

      “What, do you think that if you stay quiet for long enough, I’ll leave you alone? If that’s what you’re thinking, you’re in for a surprise, Shou-chan,” Takeru snarled, pushing Hinata’s shoulder. There was no resistance when Takeru pushed. Hinata’s body shifted, without complaint, without reaction. “Any place you go, anywhere you turn, I'm going to be there. You’ll be scrubbing the Mukankei toilets for _pennies_ , and I’ll be there forcing your head down after you bleach the damn bowls. I’ll be standing over you, watching you suffer. I will haunt you, forever, until the day you stick a gun up your mouth and pull the trigger just to get me out of your head.”

      Takeru released Hinata’s shoulder, but only to go towards the entrance once again. From behind a set of plant pots, he pulled out a lengthy-looking saw. On it was a note from Kotomine, which read ‘I hope this is good enough, Boss’. He threw the saw in front of Hinata, who didn’t even react to the large weapon which was sitting in front of him. For a brief moment, there was some alarm that flickered in Takeru’s mind, wondering whether he’d pushed Hinata just a little too far. He’d always been able to rely on the information that he could manipulate Hinata as freely as needed. But now… it just wasn’t working.

      “Cut his body up,” Takeru demanded at last, standing in front of Hinata. “If you don’t cut it up, you’ll get caught with the body of a dead C.O. in front of you when your little Nekoma friend comes to check on those beautiful little sunflowers. Perhaps I should piss on them again,” he said, letting out a snort of laughter as he thought back to how the flowers had wilted. Those stupid, weak, pathetic flowers. “I can’t imagine that you’ll ever have a chance of returning to your pretty little fiancée back home afterwards, right? If I ever escape this place, maybe I’ll pay her a little visit.”

      Hinata still didn’t respond. It was then, and only then, that Takeru knew he’d gone just a little bit too far. He’d caused damage. Too much damage. Not to Kotomine, but to Hinata. Playing with Hinata was no fun if he didn’t react. For some moments, Takeru thought of luring Hinata’s emotions back out with some gentleness, but the idea was quickly struck out by his rational side. He’d been about to walk out and leave Hinata to go down for the murder, but then, he finally remembered that he had one last trump card left.

      “You remember my little buddy, Teppei? He’s still on the outside,” Takeru purred. “And I know exactly where your house is. He’ll pay your little sister a visit if you keep pissing me off. And he’ll just have to cut her life short, won’t he?”

      It was that provocation that got Hinata to snap out of it.

      He grabbed the saw, a flicker of life appearing in his eyes at last as he stared down at the dead body in front of him. There were many ways he could’ve described it. He could’ve gone off on a metaphorical tangent, talking about how the holes in Kotomine’s body gave way to ‘scarlet fountains of blood’, or he could’ve told it how it was. For him, there was no dressing this situation up with fancy adjectives. What Hinata had in front of him was horrific. He wanted to stop. But, he didn’t. He couldn’t let Natsu get dragged into his mistakes. Not Natsu.

      “Start with the legs, Shou-chan. I know you’re a little whore, so we’ll leave his dick for last. You want to keep it as a souvenir?” Takeru kicked Hinata when he received no response. “Don’t ignore me. This man just died because of you. You want me to go find some of your cute little friends from the Johzenji and make them pay too?”

      Hinata completely ignored Takeru. It was as if Takeru wasn’t there. But, Takeru was very much there, kicking Hinata habitually from time to time just to prove that he had the upper hand. He would always have the upper hand. He was Nakashima Takeru, the leader of Wakunan. There was nothing that could change that, nothing at all.

      _We shoot to kill. And, we wear pink_.


	12. Rapists, Roppongi, Reefers

Chapter Twelve: Rapists, Roppongi, Reefers

      When one says the word ‘Japan’, what’s the first thing that comes to mind? The flag? Their language? J-Pop? Or maybe, it brings back personal memories for you. Memories of going to see the Tokyo Skytree, or trotting around Osaka Castle. For Takeru, who had grown up in a cramped little house in Roppongi, the word ‘Japan’ made him think about the struggles he’d overcome to get to the place he was at today. Fukurodani. For him, that was a step above his childhood. A step above the house he’d started his life in, and _God_ was it horrible.

      On the outside, it was close to falling apart. The roof was in desperate need of maintenance, and the small patch of grass outside was littered with ash, old condoms and God-knows-what. On the inside, it wasn’t much different. The house seemed to represent the state of this dysfunctional little family — well, if they could _call_ themselves a family. Takeru was their youngest child. He had an older brother, who was often out doing ‘work’ on his father’s behalf. Takeru never got to see his brother. And much to his lament, he never got to see food either.

      “Mom? I’m hung’y…” Takeru’s mother was lying on the sofa, not speaking. Takeru had toddled his way to the kitchen and after getting up on a stool, he’d opened the fridge, but the only thing that had been in there was some mouldy butter and gloppy milk. Takeru had tried drinking the gloppy milk once, but he’d felt very ill after trying it. There was some white powder lined up on the table right next to the sofa, but it didn’t taste very nice either. He didn’t understand what his mom liked about it so much. It was powdery and gross and it smelt bad.

      His father, on the other hand, was a very scary man. He didn’t come home often, but when he did, he usually came back with a new belt and a new girl hanging off his shoulder. Today happened to be one of these occasions. Takeru had been sitting on the living room carpet, sucking on his thumb when his father stormed in all of a sudden. Just from his demeanour, Takeru could tell he was in a bad mood. So, he hugged his knees to his body in order to make himself seem smaller. It would be better if he wasn’t noticed by anyone. His father stormed straight over to his mother’s comatose body and began to rain punches down at her, yelling at her to get up and stop being such a skank. He was clearly intoxicated judging by how his words were all slurred together. Either intoxicated, or high. But, before Takeru could wonder which it was, his father noticed him cowering in the corner.

      He’d stepped forwards.

      Yelled at him.

      “Stop being pathetic! You’re no son of mine if you sit in a corner cowering like that! Be a man, Takeru. Don’t end up being a worthless piece of shit like this one,” he yelled, slamming his fist down on his wife’s body to illustrate his point. “There’s no room for weak people in this world. There’s strong people, and then there’s stronger people. If I ever catch you being anything less than stronger, I’ll send you out of this house. Understand?”

      Takeru nodded. “Yes, Dad. I understand.”

      He was terrified, but he was learning to not let his fear show on his face. If he pretended for long enough, he’d be able to play the role and keep his father happy. His father nodded, satisfied with Takeru’s response, and left the room once again. Takeru was left unharmed.

      The scariest thing Takeru’s father ever did happened when Takeru was six years old. His father had decided to bring an ATM machine home, along with a random businessman who had been unfortunate enough to witness the crime. At gunpoint, he’d forced the businessman to try and open the machine, only for the businessman to insist that it wasn’t going to work. In the end, Takeru’s father crushed the businessman’s head. With the ATM machine. When the ATM machine slammed down, it burst open, covering the living room carpet in yen, lots and lots of it. Some of it was stained with brain matter. Some of it with cocaine residue. But it didn’t matter, because at the end of the day, it was still money. For quite some time, Takeru had been unable to forget the sound of that man’s head just… _crunching_. It had remained there, a constant reminder of just what his father was capable of. Afterwards, Takeru’s father had yelled at him to “hurry up and pick up the money”.

      Takeru, while he felt some remorse for the man who had just died, felt more excited at the prospect of finally getting some good food. So, he picked up every last note, pocketing two thousand yen notes for himself.

      That evening, Takeru went out on the streets to eat. It was the first time he had gone out for a purpose _other_ than selling drugs on his father’s behalf. He’d gone into an izakaya and ordered the biggest portion of nabemono they had. It seemed to be going pretty slow that night, considering there was only one other man in there apart from Takeru.

      “Can I get some fuckin’ nabemono up in this bitch?”

      The woman at the register stared back at him, hardly able to believe that someone so short was using such vile language. He probably wasn’t even a teenager yet, and he was already using language like this. “Excuse me?”

      “Bitch, do ya need to clean out ya damn ears? Get me some fuckin’ nabemono! I got money to pay for it. Keep the change, sweet stuff.” He had to get on his tippy-toes just to place the money on the counter. And even then, he just _about_ managed to get it not to drift off from the edge of the counter. It was bigger than he was.

      “Where are your parents?”

      “Why the fuck do ya care? I asked fa’ food, not a fuckin’ Q&A!”

      This kind of speech was normal for Takeru. With his dad using swear words at an alarmingly high rate, it only made sense that the habit carried over to Takeru.

      “Son, I think you should be a bit more respectful,” the older man said. He had a shock of fine hair which was prematurely white, and his budding cheeks were testament to the energy that still flowed within his veins. “Tomoko-chan here is a very lovely person. She doesn’t deserve to be spoken to in such a manner. Would you use that sort of language with your mother?”

      “My mom don’t understand nothing ‘cept the coke she keeps lined up in front of her.” Takeru slapped the older man’s hand off his shoulder, glaring up at him. The only thing the older man seemed to have for him was pity. “I didn’t ask for ya input, grandpa. Sit down and read ya fucking newspaper.”

      “Hey. I can get you help,” he said slowly, crouching down so that he was at the same level as Takeru. “I came to Roppongi to investigate the crime life here. I’m writing a documentary about it. If you come with me, I can take you somewhere safe—”

      Takeru didn’t hesitate to pull out the same gun his father had held the businessman at gunpoint with, before blasting the man in the chest.

      “I told ya,” Takeru said, throwing the newspaper at the older man. “Sit down and read ya fucking newspaper.”

      He fell back against the wall, eyes wide as he watched this child criminal in front of him. He’d never seen something so unbelievable in his whole life. He’d witnessed this with his own two eyes, but he wouldn’t live to tell the world about it. He could already feel the life draining out of him.

      Meanwhile, Takeru didn’t stop to reflect on the fact he’d just hurt a well-meaning gentleman. He simply turned back to the service desk, where Tomoko was staring at him with fear in her eyes.

      “Get me my nabemono, bitch. Now.”

      Safe to say, she didn’t try to oppose him after that. She had the nabemono delivered to his table swiftly, which he devoured with a smile on his face. After all that effort he’d gone to just to get this food in front of him, it really did taste sweet. In no time, he’d devoured the entire bowl, leading him to order another.

      If this was what blood money could get him… then, he wanted more. Much more.

      At last, once he’d filled his stomach to the brim with some good food, he made his way back out of the restaurant, surprised that the body had disappeared while he’d been eating. There was a bloody trail where it had been dragged out through the front door of the izakaya, but since it was so dark outside, Takeru couldn’t keep following the trail. Walking in a different direction, he saw a dead man lying on the road. There were two shady-looking men, who were taking a picture with the body. It was a morbid affair that didn’t quite make sense to Takeru, although he didn’t stare. Staring in Roppongi would only bring him trouble.

      He continued to walk along the opposite way of town, putting his yen notes away and bringing his grams of cocaine out.

      “Hey. You selling?” There was a greasy-looking overweight man in front of him, who was playing with his fingers incessantly.

      “How much ya want?”

      “How much you sell for?”

      Takeru pulled out a gun. “Do ya want the fuckin’ drugs or not, asshole?”

      The man’s face blanched. “I’ll take an eight-ball.”

      When he handed Takeru the money, Takeru pocketed it and shot him twice, first in the head and then in the chest. He fell to the ground, breathing for all of thirty seconds before withering away at last. “Dumbass,” he muttered to himself, snatching up the guy’s wallet and carrying on his merry way. “Walking around with all of these credit cards in this neighbourhood. He’s just asking to be taken advantage of.”

***

      After that day, Takeru never went hungry again. He reached his quotas and still had money on the side that he could spend as he pleased. That went on well into Takeru’s childhood. He never got to go to school, although he doubted whether he’d last long in a school in the first place. He wasn’t going to let some nerdy Poindexter with a degree tell him what to do, for fuck’s sake. Poindexters could stick to their crossword puzzles, and he’d stick to slinging dope.

      Takeru more or less grew up on the streets, dodging police officers and making money. His childhood house still remained the dilapidated mess it was, although he didn’t care. He went out to eat, went out to _live_. And more often than not, his dad would invite him to ‘take one of his whores for a swing’. At a very young age, Takeru had come to learn that his father was close to being a drug lord. He always said that he’d become one one day, but he wasn’t. Not really. He was still slinging dope on the streets, after all. He was just more important than some of the other slingers on the street. Whenever someone stopped being able to pay for their drugs, his father would force them to do all sorts. And while many of these drugged-up women expressed disgust at getting in the bedroom with a child, it still happened. They valued their drugs above their morality. By the time Takeru was ten years old, he was snorting those white lines just like his mother, he’d lost his virginity, and his father was gearing him up to follow in his footsteps.

      When Takeru was eleven, his mother died of an overdose. Takeru wasn’t too surprised — in fact, he was surprised that it had taken as long as it had for the cocaine to kill her — and was the one to find her body when he got home that evening. There was a white trail of powder from both nostrils, and her body lay slumped against the same table that had nursed her through all of these years. Her mop of orange hair had fanned out over the table, almost as if it were representing the sun. Even with its tangles and split ends, it still had some sort of glossy quality to it. If only she’d taken care of herself more, she might’ve looked a bit prettier when she hit her deathbed. His father, upon seeing the dead body, simply laughed and told his son to go and grab a knife from the kitchen. While Takeru didn’t actually _see_ what happened (he’d been ordered to go and start selling while his father finished up) it didn’t take a genius to work it out. He was selling her organs for money. Takeru hadn’t really experienced any remorse over her death. The only time he’d ever seen her was when she was snorting cocaine off the living room table. He didn’t even know what her voice sounded like. He’d never had any meaningful conversations with her, never had her say “I love you” to him. Takeru had never once had a chance to learn what _love_ was, not really. In that same year, he killed a man for bumping into him on the street. It had been simple for him. The guy had bumped into him, some stupid, touristy-looking guy with a Hawaiian shirt on and a camera slung around his neck. So, Takeru had dragged him down onto the ground and knifed him. Everyone around him had walked past, not wanting to involve themselves.

      By the time Takeru was twelve, he’d developed a bit of a reputation. Other kids, having been in awe of his many ‘achievements’ agreed to become his lackeys and push drugs on the street for him. It was this year that Wakunan was truly formed, although they hadn’t called themselves Wakunan as of yet. They’d just decided that they’d commit crimes together and get as many girls as they could. When Takeru told his father about it, he simply ruffled Takeru’s hair and said “Good for you, son”. Takeru couldn’t quite describe it, but it had felt nice to be praised for doing well. So, Takeru continued. In the daytime, Takeru and his lackeys patrolled the streets, knifing anyone who dared to look the wrong way. In the night, Takeru’s father ran things, pushing drugs to party-goers and getting grabby with attractive women on the streets.

      It wasn’t until Takeru turned thirteen that he experienced the first true loss of his life. His father was killed, the same man who had guided him through life. He’d disciplined Takeru as a child, beating him whenever he didn’t act like the man he was meant to be. While Takeru had resented the beatings at first, he had slowly grown to accept them, knowing that his dad was just trying to remodel him into an ideal man worthy of the Nakashima name. And as Takeru began to prove himself on the streets time and time again, the beatings reduced in number. Soon, the only time his father would hit him would be when Takeru had managed to bring back a large amount of profits, in which case Takeru would get a hearty slap on the back and an offer of a strip club visit.

      Now, staring at his father’s lifeless body on the ground, he felt angry. But not because someone had dared to kill his father. He was angry because he’d been led by someone who was pussy enough to get killed. In retaliation, he rose to a place of prominence, showing the whole of Roppongi that he was in fact superior to his father, despite being decades younger. Thirteen, and he was running the whole neighbourhood. But, what else could you expect from the Nakashimas? His father was crazy, so it made sense that the son was crazy too. Takeru didn’t even know what had happened to his older brother. He’d probably wasted away, just like his crack whore of a mother. It was around this time that the name ‘Wakunan’ came to mind. For Takeru, it was like giving a name to everything that he desired in life. And so, Wakunan was born. From there, Takeru only became more notorious, which was exactly what he wanted.

      For Takeru, this was his happy ending. He had an unlimited supply of drugs, women and power. In this world that was run by him, that was all he needed. People to fear him, do what he wanted, and some violence to keep him entertained. Even when people did nothing wrong, he’d just lash out at them because he felt like it. When someone in Wakunan suggested that he ‘chill out’, Takeru simply laughed at them and said that he would. Twenty-four hours later, that same someone’s body was found shoved in a freezer. The police had described it as a ‘perplexing case’. And while they always knew that Takeru was one of the worst threats there was to the people’s safety, they could never get to him. He was always moving, always sacrificing people in order to get higher and higher.

      And then, he met Shou-chan, the boy he couldn’t quite sacrifice.

      That, for Takeru, was the end of his happy story. And of course, we all know what happens next. Takeru ends up in Fukurodani, alongside his Shou-chan, and Takeru unleashes all of his rage on Shou-chan because he doesn’t have an entire network of people to abuse now. He’s lost it all, lost everything except Shou-chan. If that _stupid_ Shou-chan had just stayed out of that damn alleyway, they wouldn’t be here right now. _It’s his fault. It’s his fault for being so stupid_.

      If only Takeru’s father had taught him one last thing.

      You can’t stay on the top forever.

***

      “There you go, Shou-chan! I knew you could do it,” Takeru crooned, ruffling Hinata’s mop of orange hair. Under Takeru’s guidance, Hinata had sawed this body into smaller bits and shoved it all in separate garbage bags, which would usually be used to dispose of weeds and other unsavoury things in the garden. “Now, bury the parts and no-one will know that you killed him.”

      Hinata continued to stare into blank space with that same, empty expression on his face.

      “Don’t look at me like that!” Takeru backhanded Hinata out of nowhere, his facial expression suddenly one of anger. “Jesus fucking Christ. You’re so _pathetic_. Why didn’t you just stand up to him? Maybe everything would’ve turned out differently if you’d stood up for yourself! You’re just wasting away, Shou-chan!” The _Shou-chan_ this time was to remind Takeru that he was speaking to _Hinata_ , not the other person he had in his mind.

      When Hinata didn’t respond, Takeru let out a groan. “Just hurry the fuck up already. It’s getting close to nine o’clock. Don’t want to end up in Shinzen on your birthday, do you?”

      Hinata’s body movements were like clockwork at this point. _Don’t breathe in, pot the body parts and plant them_. He kept on moving, kept on listening to Takeru yell instructions at him until it was finally gone. The blood was all over him, all over the floorboards. But once Hinata poured water over the floorboards, it all washed away, washed down to the little drain at the end of the greenhouse.

      “Get up. And take your shirt off. It’s bloody.”

      Hinata did as ordered, standing up and taking off his prison shirt. He had his pale beige shirt (now covered in blood) and underneath, he wore a long-sleeved white shirt. Thankfully, it was only the beige shirt which was ruined. He tucked the beige shirt behind the plant pots, knowing that he didn’t have time to do anything else.

      “Now, Shou-chan. You’re going to do what I say,” Takeru said, stepping closer to him, “every single day,” he grabbed Hinata’s shoulders, “and you’re not going to complain. Do you understand?” When he received no response from Hinata, he shook his shoulders vigorously, frustrated by his refusal to speak. “For fuck’s sake! You haven’t spoken since you got your birthday present! Come on, damnit, say something! All you do is lie there… you never speak. What does your voice even sound like, huh? Tell me, damnit. Tell me!”

      _Who’s Takeru talking about?_

      “If you do something I don’t like,” Takeru continued, realising that he wasn’t going to get a reply from Hinata anytime soon, “then guess what? I’ll make sure the whole prison finds out about what a _filthy murderer_ you are. How you let someone die right in front of you, Shou-chan. You know, part of his brain was probably aware that you were chopping him up. He felt it, Shou-chan. He felt everything you did to him. You stabbed him. You killed him. You heartless bastard. Does that turn you on, maybe? How depraved are you?!”

      Takeru was about to push Hinata onto the ground, but he stopped when he heard a loud, drawly voice.

      “Hey, shrimp! You’re here early!” Kuroo flung the door to the greenhouse open, although his enthusiasm fizzled out when he saw that Takeru was in there too. His eyes narrowed, his demeanour becoming threatening as he squared up to Takeru. “What the hell are _you_ doing here, pipsqueak?”

      “Who the hell are you calling pipsqueak, _Rooster-chan_?”

      Kuroo’s eyes went to Hinata, who didn’t even look like he was aware of where he was right now. _What if Takeru’s got him on drugs or something?_ Kuroo was genuinely worried about Hinata’s mental health. Half of the time, he appeared to be drifting around the prison like some sort of ghost. The other half, he just wasn’t there at all. “Get the fuck out of here. I’m taking him to medical.”

      “Ah, hear that, Shou-chan? Rooster-chan here wants to ruin your twenty-fourth birthday! How cruel of him,” Takeru purred, an innocent look appearing on his face for all of five seconds before it melted into something more sinister, “especially considering that it’ll be your last.”

      “ _Asshole_ ,” Kuroo growled, grabbing Takeru by the scuff of his neck and throwing him out of the greenhouse. “No matter how many times people try to kill you, you just don’t die. You’re like a cockroach. How many times you need me to step on you, huh?”

      “Hey, Rooster-chan. Let me remind you about my army in Mukankei Ni.”

      “Oh right, the same army that abandoned you after you proved that you’re nothing but a _punk_.” Kuroo was about to deal with him once and for all, rolling up his sleeves to reveal his impressively defined muscular arms, but it was then that he spotted Towada approaching the greenhouse.

      _Goddamnit. What is it with C.Os always turning up at the wrong time?_

      Reluctantly, Kuroo gritted his teeth and took a step back, just so Towada wouldn’t think that he was starting anything. He knew that Tsukishima wouldn’t forgive him if he got sent to the SHU.

      “See you later, Rooster-chan. Shou-chan, I hope you like your birthday present.” Takeru had an absurdly kind smile as he waved goodbye to the two men, turning around moments later and hurrying over to the prison building. Towada walked right past the greenhouse just moments later. As it turned out, the C.O. hadn’t making his way to the greenhouse. He had been making his way over to the sheds, where Kageyama was guaranteed to be.

***

      Kuroo wanted to take Hinata straight to medical, but much to his dismay, Takeda was off sick. They were only keeping inmates with severe injuries in there, since they’d had someone else come in to cover Takeda for the day. So, he ended up taking Hinata over to Oikawa’s office, and after Kuroo gave a brief rundown of the situation, Oikawa was more than happy to let Hinata stay in his office for the day. He tried to speak to Hinata, tried to offer him chocolate digestives, but Hinata just wasn’t speaking. He didn’t respond to any stimuli. Didn’t respond to any attempts at conversation. Oikawa wasn’t sure what had happened to bring about this change, but he knew that Takeru had something to do with it.

      Oikawa continued to go through his papers, left every now and again to go give some files to Kiyoko (who was next door) and took breaks to message Iwaizumi. Not once did Hinata speak. He wouldn’t leave to have lunch, wouldn’t leave to have dinner. At last, the small hand on the clock was sliding from 10 to 11, the sun had long disappeared from the sky and Oikawa knew that his shift was over for the day.

      “Chibi-chan,” Oikawa began hesitantly, “my shift’s over now. Do you want me to tell Iwa-chan you said hi when I get back home?”

      No response.

      “I’ll walk you back to your dorm, at least. Okay?”

      Again, no response.

      “Come on. Let’s go.” Oikawa grabbed his briefcase and walked towards the door, looking over at Hinata. The orange haired man had stood up, and was now walking towards Oikawa. He understood Oikawa. He could follow instructions. He just wasn’t speaking.

      Hinata was kind enough to shut the door before following after Oikawa. However, when he saw Takeru in his peripheral, there was a sense of fear that spiked in his blood.

      “Hey, Oikawa,” Takeru said, wearing a kind expression on his face as he approached the two. It was as if he were an elementary kid with a new toy. Granted, he would’ve been a very rough-looking elementary kid with all of his facial tattoos and scars, but _still_. “It’s Shou-chan’s birthday today. I wanted to give him a present. So, is it cool if I take him off your hands?”

      Oikawa narrowed his eyes at him. “I wasn’t born yesterday, Nakashima.”

      “I told you, damnit. My name’s just Takeru.”

      “Well, Just Takeru. I’m taking chibi-chan here back to his dorm, so I suggest you go back to yours. You wouldn’t want to get sanctioned, right?” Oikawa continued to walk, Hinata standing even closer to Oikawa than he had been before. Takeru glared at the backs of the both of them, irritated that he’d been thwarted by that fucking brunette. If it wasn’t for all the cameras in the corridor, he probably would’ve gone and hit Oikawa just for speaking to him like that. _Asshole. Shou-chan’s mine. Mine_.

      Takeru eventually did stomp his way back to the Mukankei Ni dorm, planning all the ways that he was going to get his back on Oikawa for denying him access to Hinata and how he was going to punish Hinata for daring to spend the whole day hiding from him up in that Oikawa’s office.

      He wasn’t done with Hinata. He was nowhere near done.

      Hinata was the reason that Takeru had become weak, and he was going to damn well pay for it.


	13. Dog Training

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kageyama loses his patience.

Chapter Thirteen: Dog Training

      When the Johzenji saw Hinata, they almost jumped him due to their excitement, but Oikawa stood in front of Hinata and stopped the excited group of men from going any further. Judging by the decorations and crisp packets around the dorm, it really _was_ Hinata’s birthday. Unfortunately, Hinata wasn’t in a birthday mood.

      “I think you should all hold off on the celebrations for tonight,” Oikawa said, gesturing towards the food and decorations. “Chibi-chan here needs to get some rest.” As much as it pained Oikawa to do so, he knew what was coming next. He’d need to talk to Takeda the second he came back in from his sick leave and discuss the possibility of allotting Hinata a temporary stay in Aoba Johsai. Until then, he just needed Hinata to _sleep_.

      There was no argument about the verdict. Terushima took Oikawa to one side and asked a few questions about Hinata’s state while the rest of them cleared the decorations away, setting it all aside for another day. Once it was all done and dusted, Oikawa bid farewell to all of the inmates before leaving the dorm at last, headed straight home. Terushima took Hinata over to their square and quietly directed him to his futon, before going over to Hinata’s possession box and pulling out the purple box. He then went back over to Hinata, sat down on the ground and placed the box on Hinata’s lap.

      “You have my permission to open this,” Terushima said at last, placing his hand on Hinata’s wild tufts of orange hair. “Okay?”

      Hinata doubted that the contents would be able to change the countless sins he’d just committed, but he didn’t really know how to put the words together. It was as if he’d reverted to being a baby, a baby who could only say “Dada” and “Mama”. Everything else was either high pitched cooing or high pitched crying. So, he reached out for the purple box and pulled the lid off it at last, eyes widening when he saw its contents.

      A sun.

      In the box was a handcrafted sun, tactfully covered with glitter. In the middle, Terushima had written ‘your light shines on’. It even appeared to be _glowing_. When Hinata lifted the sun out of the box and held it in his hands, it was as if he could feel just how much effort had gone into making this. The weight of all the things Terushima had traded for the materials, the weight of Terushima’s work, his effort, his _care_.

      “It glows in the dark,” Terushima said. “There’s also some neodymium magnets in the back of it, so it’ll stick to any metallic objects.”

      When Terushima noticed that Hinata was crying, he gently lifted the sun out of Hinata’s hands and placed it back in its box, before opening his arms. Hinata leaned in, accepting Terushima’s embrace at last. They stayed there for some moments, Hinata quietly sniffling on Terushima’s shoulder while Terushima rubbed Hinata’s back gently.

      “Terushima… I did something bad.” Hinata gulped. “I killed a man.”

      “A lot of people in here have,” Terushima said, still rubbing Hinata’s back. “It doesn’t make you a bad person. Doesn’t make you any less of a bottle,” he added with a small smile. “You’re still Hinata—”

      “No. It was a C.O., a C.O. who was working for Takeru. He had a family. I… I cut him up, Terushima. I cut him up and I buried him,” Hinata said, now bawling on Terushima’s shoulder. “I don’t know what to do. I’m scared, damnit!”

      Terushima was slightly shocked to hear this, but he didn’t pry. He began to rub circles into Hinata’s back, hoping that it would soothe him. Then, after some silence had passed, he began to hum under his breath, something that sounded like a lullaby. While Terushima wasn’t what you’d call a strong vocalist, he was consistent and he achieved his main objective of the night: calming Hinata down.

      Soon, Hinata had fallen asleep on Terushima’s shoulder, still clinging onto the blonde. Since Terushima couldn’t bear to wake him up to go back into his own futon, he simply snuggled in a little closer and eventually fell asleep himself, keeping Hinata safe in his arms.

      In the morning, he was going to find Takeru. And then, he was going to end this once and for all.

***

      “What the _fuck_ is taking you so long to get rid of Takeru? You went to the man I recommended, didn’t you?”

      It was seven a.m., quite a while before count, and Kageyama was standing in Towada’s office once again. He’d been unable to relax these past few days, but after Kuroo had come and told him about what had happened yesterday, Kageyama had searched all over for Hinata. He’d been unable to find him. He’d eventually found Hinata safe in the Johzenji dorm, snuggled up with Terushima. They had both been draped in a blanket, Hinata’s head laid on Terushima’s shoulder. They had looked a lot friendlier than Kageyama would’ve liked. There had also been an open purple box nearby, its contents consisting of a sparkly sun. It had been glowing inside its box.

      Kageyama had eventually left the Johzenji dorm feeling a tad more jealous than was healthy, and he’d stormed into Towada’s office without warning. Towada had been sitting at his desk, papers spread out in front of him. And of course, he had felt the now-familiar sensation of fear trickling down his spine when he’d noticed just how angry Kageyama had looked.

      “Yes. I’ve got the ricin.”

      “Then what’s the problem?” Kageyama walked right up and slammed his outstretched hand on Towada’s desk, causing the latter to flinch. “You don’t have any time to waste, dog. Takeru needs to die, and he needs to die today.”

      “I know, I know—”

      “If you know, then why isn’t he dead?” It was taking an incredible amount of self-control for Kageyama not to put his hands on Towada. “Listen. If you don’t do it, then I will. And we both know that it’s easier if I don’t get involved.”

      “I’ll do it,” Towada insisted. “I will.”

      “How? Tell me right now. What’s your plan?”

      “I—I’ll have Oikawa call him in for a meeting—”

      “You’re not bringing Oikawa into this. He has a family.”

      Kageyama had heard Oikawa ramble on and on and _on_ about how much he loved Iwaizumi and Shigeru, his son. Despite Kageyama’s lack of family connection, he wasn’t cold enough to not find Oikawa’s devotion to his family adorable. He wouldn’t be able to forgive himself if anything happened to Oikawa or his family.

      “But—”

      Kageyama raised his eyebrow at Towada. “But what? You want to endanger Oikawa?”

      “He won’t do anything,” Towada stuttered at last. “It’s just—just a meeting…”

      “I’ll give you a challenge, dog. Tell me a plan which actually works. If you can’t do that, I’ll take your brain. If you don’t know how to use it,” Kageyama slowly said, pulling his lighter out of his pocket, “then you don’t deserve it. Go on. Tell me a plan. If I like it, I’ll leave you to carry it out today. And I mean _today_.”

      “Wait… I… I can’t think of a plan just like that—”

      “I have four possible plans in my head as to what you could do, one of them which appeals to me due to the fact I’d be humiliating Takeru in the process. I could think of four more if you gave me three minutes. And right now, I have three plans on how I could kill you without anyone ever finding out it was me. I’ll only keep you alive as long as you’re useful to me,” Kageyama said, flickering the lighter on, “so tell me, dog. Will I have to put you down, or will you perform some new tricks for me?”

      “I… I can’t think when that lighter’s right by my hair…”

      “Fine.”

      In one move, Kageyama grabbed Towada by the back of his throat and slammed his head down on the desk, a loud thud reverberating around the room. He forced Towada’s head back up before pushing his head against the wall, beginning to lose his patience with the C.O.

      “If you piss me off,” Kageyama continued, “I’ll not only burn your hair off. I’ll set fire to this desk and I’ll force you to lie down in it. Now think, dog. Use your _fucking_ brain.”

      Towada was so terrified that he could barely remember to breathe. Kageyama was going to kill him, right here and right now, and he wasn’t going to live to find out what would happen to this damn prison and—

      Towada shrieked when he felt heat on his forehead, smelt the smoke that was beginning to rise from his own hair. Kageyama clamped his hand over Towada’s mouth, preventing him from calling for help. Kageyama could kill him right now and the whole prison would be none the wiser. The only thing which was probably stopping Kageyama was the fact that the camera outside would’ve seen him walk into Towada’s office. There were no cameras inside the actual office.

      “You’re running out of time, dog.”

      Kageyama removed his hand from Towada’s mouth once he was sure that the C.O. wouldn’t attempt to make any unnecessary noise. Then again, most of what came out of Towada’s mouth could be classed as ‘unnecessary noise’.

      “I—I—I…” Towada was a stuttering mess. He couldn’t think. He couldn’t. Towada knew damn well just how scary Kageyama was, but this was something entirely different. He felt as if he was standing before Takeru’s mercy rather than the standard Kageyama mercy. “I can’t think!”

      He squeezed his eyes shut, waiting for Kageyama to beat the holy shit out of him, but the beating never came. Instead, Towada felt Kageyama’s rage. Boiling hot coffee forced Towada’s eyes open, and he tried to scream, but he’d been gagged with his own tie. Kageyama was standing there, calmly tipping Towada’s mug of fresh coffee over his head. Kageyama was just putting out the flames that he’d started, after all. Towada felt it burning into his brain, the excruciating pain which made his feet clash against the ground again and again; the pain which was burning in his eye sockets, the _pain_. It hurt, it hurt so badly that Towada wanted nothing more than to pass out, but he couldn’t. Kageyama wasn’t done using him yet.

      “I knew it,” Kageyama said at last, snickering to himself. “I’m removing this gag now. If you speak out of turn, I’ll get Aida to take a look at your internet history. You really are a dog, huh? No wonder you’ve been single ever since losing _Sanada-sensei_.”

      Towada really did want to cry now. He felt miserable. Completely and utterly miserable. He’d come into this prison determined to stamp Kageyama down, but now he was the one being stamped on by Kageyama. At this point, the only person who had a chance at dethroning Kageyama was Aida.

      Kageyama pulled the tie gag out of Towada’s mouth and placed it to one side. “You’re too stupid to think. Looks like I can’t teach you that. But, let’s see if you know how to use common sense. I’ll tell you the plans I have to get rid of Takeru. You have to tell me which plan is the best, and why. Do you understand?”

      “Yes. I understand, Kageyama.”

      “Don’t address me so casually, dog. _What do you call me_?”

      “Kageyama-san,” Towada corrected hurriedly. “Kageyama-san.”

      “Good. Now, Plan One. You’ll get your hands on something appetising. A burger, a donut, whatever. Put the ricin in it. Take Takeru out of the cafeteria at breakfast and convince him to eat it. Plan Two. Forget the ricin. You’ll go and talk to Aida and convince her that Takeru should be in the SHU based on his past offences. He goes to SHU, and the problem is solved.”

      “I pick Plan Two,” Towada stated confidently.

      “I told you that there’s four plans, dog. Don’t you listen?”

      “But… but Plan Two doesn’t seem too dangerous. It sounds reasonable.”

      “First of all, Plan Two is the loser’s way out. I’m not surprised someone like you would like it. It’s a short-term solution. Takeru comes back from the SHU, and he starts wreaking havoc again. Just for speaking out of turn, I’m going to—”

      “No. Don’t hurt me again… please. I can’t take it.”

      Kageyama backhanded Towada, the man’s head snapping to the left before rolling back into the centre, eyes watering from the sheer force of it. Kageyama was by no means strong. But that didn’t mean that it hurt any less. “Shut the fuck up, dog. I don’t have time to train you. You’re going to listen and tell me which plan is the best.”

      “I’m sorry! I’m sorry, Kageyama.” When Kageyama gave him a dark look, he quickly corrected himself. “ _San_!”

      “Plan Three. You’ll gradually feed Takeru the ricin over breakfast and lunch by lacing his food. You’ll go into the kitchens and speak to someone who’s willing to do it without mentioning my name. For his dinner, this someone will hide blades in his food. He’ll freak out and his behaviour will get him sent to the SHU. Plan Four. You sell the ricin to one of Takeru’s cronies, tell them that it’s cocaine, and tell them to pass it on. It’s well-known by both inmates and C.Os that Takeru was a drug lord on the outside, mainly selling cocaine and heroin. Many people in the prison dislike Takeru. One of these people will be willing to pass the ricin off as cocaine to Takeru. He snorts it and eventually dies,” Kageyama said, drawing one hand across his own neck. Towada shuddered. “Let me remind you how ricin works. It’s impossible to detect. It can’t be traced back to anyone. And, it takes up to four days for it to kill someone. Keeping this in mind, which plan is the best plan? If you say Plan Two, I won’t hesitate to smash your head against the wall until you pass out.”

      _Stay calm, Yoshiki. You just need to tell this… **monster** what he wants to hear, and he won’t hurt you. You have a 33.3% chance of getting it right, so just guess. He won’t kill you, so you’ll be okay_.

      “P—Plan Four.”

      Kageyama smirked. “So, you think it’s wise for you, a C.O., to walk up to an inmate, give him drugs and tell him to go take it to Takeru? You really are as stupid as I thought. I won’t even have to kill you. You’ll be wearing this beige uniform in no time. Then, the other inmates will get to you before I do.” In a mock whisper, he added, “consider yourself lucky if they do.”

      Towada had pissed himself quite a while back, and he wasn’t even angry at himself. He was so terrified of this man that he could barely think straight. “Are you… are you going to knock me out now?”

      “No. You’re going to go and carry out Plan Three. You remember what Plan Three is, dog?”

      “I… I go to the kitchen and get someone to lace Takeru’s food with the ricin. In the evening, we — no, _I_ — put blades in his food to make him freak out and get sent to the SHU…”

      “Hmm. So, you can’t use common sense, you can’t think for yourself, but you at least have a memory that’s in working order. Makes sense that you’re Aida’s personal note taker,” Kageyama said to himself. “Now, there’s a man in the kitchen with blue hair. He has a family member who was murdered by Takeru. Give him the ricin. Don’t say anything, don’t do anything else. Just give him the ricin and leave. At five-thirty, you’ll take everyone out of the kitchen except blue boy. I’ll go in during that time. If anyone sees me, I’ll hold you responsible. Keep them busy for fifteen minutes. After that, let them in, and your job’s done.”

      “I… I understand, Kageyama-san.”

      “Good.” Kageyama grabbed Towada by the throat and forced him up to his feet. “I want _results_ , dog. _Results_.”

      Kageyama let Towada go at last, turning on his heel and storming out of the room at last, leaving Towada a sweaty, nervous wreck on his computer chair where he’d fallen once Kageyama had released him. Towada was trembling so hard he felt like he’d pee himself. Again. (He wouldn’t admit that a little bit trickled down. It was a _little_ , alright?)

      With shame dampening his mood, he got up and changed into a spare set of slacks he kept in his bottom drawer.

      Once the slacks were on, Towada did his best to cover the coffee stains on his upper half. He sprayed himself with a bottle of cologne that had been sitting on top of his desk and pulled a thick jumper over his head, covering the brown stains which were all over his white button-up shirt. As for his hair, Kageyama had ruined it. He couldn’t do much to save it. It had been a style he was proud of, a lovely little pompadour, and Kageyama had _ruined it_. All he could do was slick it back and dry it with some tissues before grabbing the small sachet of ricin from his desk and sprinting out of his office. However, before he went to the cafeteria, he had one small stop to make.

***

      “What’s up, Towada?” Aida looked over at Towada, who was pacing back and forth around her desk. “You look agitated.”

      Prior to Towada’s entrance, Aida had been sipping on some coffee and trying to take some cute selfies with her phone. She wanted to post something on her new social media accounts, but she couldn’t quite capture the snapshot that she had been hoping for.

      “I need cameras in my office,” he said at last. “But, they need to be installed as discreetly as possible. They need to be _invisible_. And the people who put them in need to be _invisible_. It has to be done quickly, and it can’t be known to anyone apart from the two of us.”

      Aida got up and placed a hand on Towada, stopping him from his pacing. “I can’t think when you’re walking around so much,” she said, removing her hand once Towada had gone still. “Why the urgency? Let me guess, it’s—”

      “Don’t guess. Please. Just… _please_. The cameras will be important.”

      Aida sighed. “Are you really not going to tell me anything?”

      “I can’t.”

      After some silence, Aida nodded. “Alright. I’ll need to ask Oikawa, since he’s pretty good with electronics. His office is fitted out with all sorts,” she explained. The man even had a _remote_ which controlled all sorts in his office. He must’ve studied something to do with electronics during university. That was the only way Aida could think to explain it, really. “He’ll be able to sort something out by the end of this week. That work for you?”

      Towada nodded, heaving out a sigh of relief. “Yes, it does. Thanks.”

      “Now, I’d love to stand around and talk, but I need to make some calls. I took your suggestion on getting Takeda an assistant. The poor man works so hard,” Aida said, walking back over to her desk. “The guy working in medical right now does a good job, but he only deals with physical injuries. Many of our inmates have mental needs as well as physical, so I’m following up on some more inquiries.”

      “Yeah. Thanks again,” Towada said, making his way out of the office. “Have a good day.” When he walked out, he saw Kageyama nearby, watching with a dark look in his blue eyes. Towada’s walking sped up significantly. He knew that Kageyama was probably just going outside to smoke, but he was still put on edge by Kageyama’s presence.

      It was as if he knew exactly what Towada was doing.


	14. Star Platinum

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 'Star Platinum', aka "find as many Jojo references as you can in this short Uno scene"

Chapter Fourteen: Star Platinum

      When Hinata woke up, Terushima was no longer there. His eyes snapped open as he sat up, eyes darting back and forth until he spotted a shirtless Terushima, who appeared to have just come back from the shower. His hair was still damp and there was a faint rosy scent of soap coming from his direction.

      “Hey, Hinata. You’re finally up,” Terushima said, shooting a grin in his direction. “Are you up to speaking with the others or would you rather spend the day with me?”

      “Don’t you have to go down to electrical later?”

      Terushima snorted. “They don’t pay me enough. I don’t give a fuck.” He came over and crouched down, tapping Hinata’s nose. “Come on. We’ll do whatever you want. Say, don’t tell Bobata I told you, but he got you _Uno_ for your birthday. Ever played Uno?”

      When Hinata shook his head, Terushima let out a dramatic gasp. “You are missing out, Hinata. Jesus Christ. You know what? Let me go get a shirt and then we’ll play, alright? The others are still asleep, so _fuck ‘em_. I’ll show you why they call me _Star Platinum_ when it comes to Uno. Once I got a whole hand of +4s and no-one stood a chance against me. _No-one_ —”

      “Terushima, for once, can you _shut the fuck up_? It’s like seven in the morning, you fucking asshole! Go eat shit!”

      Terushima had begun to laugh so hard at Bobata’s insults that Hinata couldn’t help but crack a smile at the sight of it.

      “Bobata, calm down,” Tsuchiyu yelled.

      “Shut up! I was having the best dream ever and Terushima fucking ruined it! You know what, I hope your voice dies inside your voice box! Asshole!”

      Terushima smiled. “Oh, no. Sexy doesn’t die, Bobata.” Then, in Terushima’s idea of a whisper, he said to Hinata, “Bobata’s always cranky in the mornings. My middle school teacher would be jealous of him.”

      “Fuck off!”

      “Looks like he heard me,” Terushima added in another ‘whisper’.

      “You know what, I’m getting up and I’m coming to fucking shank you—”

      “It’s alright,” Hinata called out to Bobata. “I’ll keep him in check.”

      There was silence for a few moments. Terushima looked over at Hinata, who now seemed to have a bit more life than he did yesterday. Hinata still looked very much exhausted, but for now, it seemed like it would be possible to help Hinata through the whole ordeal. Terushima didn’t know the details — didn’t really want nor need to — but he was still going to try his best to fix whatever he could fix. He’d sooner see his own death than the death of Hinata’s smile. Nothing would kill Terushima more than that.

      “Alright. Just _please_ , tell him to control his voice. _Please_.”

      Terushima mimed zipping his lips shut as he crept out of the room, although a smile spread across his lips when he heard Hinata giggling. He mimed for Hinata to follow him, so he did. Hinata got up to his feet and hurried to follow Terushima, tip-toeing after the mischievous blonde. Terushima headed towards Bobata’s square, grabbing the set of _Uno_ cards from the floor and tossing them over to Hinata, who caught them. Then, Terushima grabbed a bottle of water, twisted the lid off and tip-toed towards Bobata’s sleeping body. Hinata could guess what was going to happen next. The water was promptly tipped all over Bobata, who let out a high-pitched scream when it made contact with his skin.

      “Terushima, you fucking asshole! I hope you _die_! Fuck you! _Agh_!” Bobata hopped out of his futon, dancing back and forth as if Terushima had just poured worms on him. Hinata was laughing so hard that tears were coming out of his eyes, although Bobata was way too fixated on his frustration to realise that.

      Terushima grinned. “Rise and shine, Boba-tan!”

      “ _-tan_? Just… _shut the fuck up already_ , damnit. I hate you. Asshole. _Asshole_.” Bobata began to launch his underwear in Terushima’s direction, switching to shirts when he ran out of things to throw.

      “Such unsavoury language. Hinata’s here, you know.”

      When Bobata finally spotted Hinata, who was smiling and laughing to himself, he paused his angry tirade at last. A flush spread across his face when he realised that Hinata had been watching him go batshit this entire time.

      “I’d apologise, but that _thing_ over there pisses me off, damnit! Rip out his tongue piercing for me,” Bobata said, letting out a growl of irritation when Terushima stuck said tongue out at him.

      “Hey, Boba-tan! Now that you’re awake—”

      “I’m not awake,” he muttered, clambering back into his futon.

      “I can pour water on your futon too—”

      “I’ll fucking kill you.”

      Terushima gasped. “Don’t joke about death, Boba-tan!”

      At last, Hinata took pity on Bobata and intervened. “Maybe we should let him sleep,” Hinata said at last. “It _is_ still quite early.” There was a C.O. watching them from the C.O. room, although he was more preoccupied with his _phone_ than anything else. He was a pretty young C.O. though, so it made sense.

      “Hear that, Boba-tan? Hinata thinks that I should spare you.”

      “ _Listen to him_ ,” Bobata groaned.

      “Fine, fine. We’ll come and bother everyone else later, okay? Hinata, let’s go. It’s a nice day, so why don’t we go sit outside? Maybe the sun will come out,” Terushima said, walking out of Bobata’s square at last and moving to walk alongside Hinata. “Or would you rather sit inside?”

      “Inside,” Hinata rushed to say. “Please.”

      “Okay. Now, it’s time for me to teach you how to play Uno. There’s one very important rule. _You’re not allowed to beat me_ ,” Terushima warned. “You’ll hurt my reputation very _very_ much.”

      “That’s the point of the game,” Hinata reminded him. “To win.”

      “You have to lose before you win, Hinata! Don’t talk so big so early,” Terushima scolded, sitting with legs folded in their square. They were sitting on their pillows, the both of them shuffling cards before placing them in one large pile. Terushima started by giving Hinata seven cards, instructing Hinata to keep them secret to himself, and then gave himself seven.

      “Good luck,” Terushima said, giving Hinata an earnest smile.

      He was going to go easy on Hinata, he’d decided. That didn’t mean he was going to let Hinata win. It just meant that he wouldn’t heap the +4s on Hinata like he did with all his other opponents. Usually, he’d take the +4s and use them sporadically so that his opponents couldn’t tell what he was planning to do. But, here, he was going to keep the +4s as a surprise weapon. He’d allocate himself one to use against Hinata, but he wasn’t going to use them all, assuming he was able to gain possession of them. It would be _way_ too cruel of him to completely destroy Hinata on his first time ever playing, after all.

      “Don’t need it,” Hinata stated confidently. “I’ll thrash you.”

      “Big words from a beginner like you, Hinata!” Terushima let out a chuckle. _He’s eager, isn’t he?_

      “It only takes one mistake to steal the show,” he responded boldly. In all honestly, Hinata still wasn’t entirely sure of the rules, but he’d managed to make it through volleyball as a beginner. He could make it through Uno as a beginner too. “Wait… uh… Terushima, how many games have you won?”

      “I don’t know, how many loaves of bread have you eaten in your lifetime?”

      As the meaning of that sentence dawned on Hinata, he quickly realised that he was dealing with some sort of _Uno_ master. _If people call him the ‘Star Platinum’ of Uno, then that means he must be really precise with the way he plans things…_

      “Scared, Hinata? You can still back out if you like.”

      “No way! I said I’m going to thrash you!”

      “You’re saying that now, but next, you’re going to say—”

      “No, I’m not saying that,” Hinata said, his eyes becoming scarily intense as he raised his head from his hand of cards to look Terushima in the eyes. “I _know_ that. I will thrash you. And… it all begins with this play.”

      Hinata slid a card out from his hand, about to place it down on the yellow 0 which was kicking off the game, but Hinata was stopped by a hand on his wrist.

      “I’m older, so I get to start.”

      Terushima was calm on the outside, but he’d seen that look in Hinata’s eyes just now. Hinata seriously intended to crush Terushima, right here and right now. It had been so intense that it had sent a shiver going down Terushima’s spine. And suddenly, he realised that if he hesitated against Hinata for even a moment, Hinata would knock him down to the ground and reach out towards his victory. He couldn’t go easy on Hinata. Not now.

      Hinata considered arguing the point, but he quickly realised that if he were to take control of the game when Terushima had the advantage with starting, he could make a miraculous comeback. Sure, it was fun to completely crush your opponent, but it was even better to make a comeback and win the whole match when everyone was rooting for the other side. Granted, there was no-one watching the two of them right now, but Hinata had his pride. He was going to make the strongest _Uno_ debut known to man!

      “Go ahead,” Hinata said, withdrawing his hand. “I’ll thrash you either way.”

      With that, the two began gameplay. Terushima paused as if he were thinking, although it was clear what he planned to do. He even made out as if he were going to reach for a card, causing Hinata to raise an eyebrow in question. But, he pulled his hand back at the last second and drew a +4, slamming it down on the ground. The +4 symbol was burning itself into Hinata’s eyes, causing him to let out a cry of dismay. Sure, he’d guessed that Terushima would have a trump card in his arsenal, but a +4? This early in the game? Unforgivable!

      “I’ll make you pay for that,” Hinata muttered as he got his four cards from the stack. They weren’t anything special either — just a red ‘miss a turn’ card and three regular green cards. It would’ve been great if he’d gotten a +4 to attack Terushima with, but these cards all sucked! He only had one red card, so it would be impossible to get rid of…

      A smirk appeared on Terushima’s face. “I’ll make you cry like a baby, Hinata.”

      “No way! I’ll make you cry like an even _bigger baby_!”

      Flexing his fingers in a practiced manner, he placed down _another_ +4, the ‘tap’ of the card reminding Hinata just how far ahead Terushima was. Hinata picked up the four cards as dictated, biting down on his lip hard as he thought about all the possible ways to make a comeback.

      “It’s time for your punishment, _baby_.”

      Terushima put down a variety of +2 cards, making Hinata pick up so many cards that he felt like his card-wielding hand would snap in half, until he finally decided to settle with a blue _three_. Terushima had the biggest shit-eating grin on his face and seemed to be rubbing his victory in Hinata’s face without even speaking.

      “You haven’t won yet, you know.”

      “I never said that. Besides, don’t you need to focus on yourself?” Terushima gave a pointed look at Hinata’s cards. He was holding twenty-odd cards right now. Since Terushima had used up all his +4s, he was sure that it would be a while before Hinata got his hands on one. They were all bound to be at the bottom right now. _Unless… there’s one he didn’t account for…_

      Terushima froze when he saw a slow smile spreading across Hinata’s face, his mind instantly jumping towards the worst case scenario. He relaxed, however, when he realised that Hinata had made another weak move. He’d changed the colour from a blue 3 to a red 3, most likely thinking that Terushima didn’t possess any reds. The joke was on Hinata. Terushima had a colour change card and loads of red +2s. He had this game in the bag, as far as he was concerned.

      Terushima decided to avoid placing his +2s down, instead changing the colour to green with a green three. He didn’t miss the irritated hiss that Hinata let out.

      “Honestly, you’re too vocal with your reactions,” Terushima scolded. “You might as well be screaming _I have no greens left_! Where’s the thrashing, Hinata?”

      Terushima genuinely wasn’t trying to be as antagonistic as he was being now, but he couldn’t help himself. When it came to _Uno_ , Terushima became the biggest aggravator alive. He liked to taunt, to be eccentric and of course, to _win_. There was nothing more delicious than winning (although, the sight of Hinata biting down on his lip and muttering _damn_ came pretty damn close).

      “You’ve pissed me off now.”

      Terushima let out an amused hum. “If you’re swearing, it really is serious…”

      “Oh, I did?” Hinata slapped a hand to his mouth, a flush spreading across his cheeks. “I didn’t mean to! It’s all your fault. You’re such a bad influence.”

      “Hinata, you realise I can see your cards from that angle?”

      “Oh no!” Hinata quickly pressed his cards to his chest, but the damage had been done. Terushima had already seen the set of yellow he had lining his hand of cards. “I… I…”

      “You can’t win now,” Terushima said, a smirk etching itself onto his features. “This is Star Platinum, Hinata. You can’t beat it.” With every sentence, he slammed down his red +2s, not stopping until he was left with only two cards.

      “What are you going to do now, _baby-chan_?”

      “I already told you,” Hinata said, pulling out a secret card from the very back of his hand of cards, “I’m going to thrash you!”

      Hinata slammed the card down on the pile, his clumsy fingers covering the identity of the card. But then, they shifted, Terushima’s breath catching in his throat as he realised what Hinata had just done. Hinata had revealed his cards on purpose to mislead Terushima. He knew that Terushima would avoid yellow if he saw the amount of yellows that Hinata had. It had all been planned…

      “No, keep your hand there. I’m not done,” Hinata continued, calmly placing down another +4, keeping his eyes on Terushima’s all the while. Terushima gulped, looking from Hinata to the cards in front of him. They weren’t lying. But…

      “How the hell did you get those +4s?” Terushima was _sure_ those +4s should’ve been tucked away somewhere at the bottom of the pile.

      _So, how did Hinata get them? How?_

      “I’ve had them since the beginning,” Hinata coolly responded, now beginning to hit Terushima with a variant of ‘miss turns’ and +2s. Terushima bowed to the card’s demands, steadily reducing his one card to a hand of _twenty_.

      “Damnit, I thought your _decoy_ thing only applied to volleyball…”

      “Listen, Terushima. Your ‘Star Platinum’ may be invincible, but you sure as hell aren't! If I destroy you, then your reputation dies too!” With that, Hinata tapped one more card down onto the steadily increasing pile, yelling out a loud “Uno!”

      Terushima quickly placed down a colour change card, opting for red. Hinata had put down a _lot_ of reds before, so there was no way that Hinata had any left to use to his advantage. Besides, Terushima had some red +2 cards that he could put down. _He’s ‘Star Platinum’, for God’s sake. He can pull this off_.

      “Terushima, you said you were going to make me pay, right? Here’s your receipt.” Hinata slammed down one last +4 card, the _tap_ of the card against the pile just finalising his victory. Hinata jumped up and punched the air, whooping for joy as he began to do a bit of a victory dance.

      “I’ve been beaten.”

      Terushima let his remaining cards drop out of his hands as he leaned back, watching Hinata celebrate his victory. He wasn’t going to lie. Losing _hurt_. But, Terushima already knew why he’d lost. He didn’t need anyone to spell it out for him. He’d subconsciously found himself going easy on Hinata. Whether intentional or not, he’d gone easy on Hinata. He hadn’t played as aggressively as usual. If anything, he’d played more _recklessly_ than usual. It had irritated him, hearing that Hinata wanted to thrash him as a beginner.

      From the beginning, Hinata had been using Terushima’s cockiness against him. He’d been gradually building up a presence in Terushima’s mind; he’d been allowing Terushima to get used to the rhythm of playing. He’d painted a shadow there, masking his true skill so that when he finally broke free, Terushima wouldn’t be able to react quickly enough. In short, Hinata had thrashed him. Both emotionally and strategically.

      “Oi, Hinata. Get over here. We’re not done here.”

      “Sure.” Hinata paused his celebrations at last and sat down, shooting a grin in Terushima’s direction. “If you lose this one, you have to lick the bottom of my shoe. You’re not allowed to pretend either.”

      “Fine. If _you_ lose, you have to lick the bottom of my _foot_.”

      “Ew.” Hinata wrinkled his nose. “You’re on. But Terushima, I’ll let you know, I don’t take returns on payback. You’re going to have to deal with losing again…”

      “You know, I was just going easy on you that time. So, that victory didn’t count.”

      “Oh, shut up. We both know you lost fair and square.” In a mock whisper, Hinata added one small detail. “It just so happens I’m better at working the cards than you, Terushima.”

      “You shut up,” Terushima said, snatching the cards up and beginning to shuffle them. “I’ll show you who’s better!”

      “It’s fine! I already know it’s me.”

      “I thought that _I_ was annoying, but _you_ … you’re something entirely different,” Terushima said, tidying up the stack of cards he’d created before collecting fourteen cards from the pile. “ _Yare yare daze_.”

      Hinata burst into laughter, catching the reference instantly. He looked at his set of seven cards which Terushima had just slid in his direction, a smile spreading across his face as he said, “What a beautiful Duwang.”

      He had a colour change card and one yellow +2 at his disposal. _This really is a fantastic set of cards_ , Hinata thought to himself. It would be hard for him to win, now that Terushima was bound to be more cautious in this game, but that didn’t mean that Hinata wasn’t going to try.

      “Indeed,” Terushima said, looking down at his own set of cards. He had quite a few good cards to spare this time around. (Last game’s hand of cards had been a _lot_ better though. It’s still irritating that he lost when his cards were _so damn good_.) “Now, Hinata. Ready to lose?”

      “Yeah. I’m ready to lose your friendship after I _crush you_. Again.”

      Terushima’s ears smarted at the addition of the word ‘again’. “The only thing you’re crushing is your teeth in frustration after I defeat you!”

      Hinata wasn’t surprised when he heard the loud shouting from the other inhabitants of the dorm. “Terushima?”

      “Yeah, guys? You wanna play Uno too?”

      “No! Shut the fuck up!”

***

      Terushima stayed by Hinata’s side for the whole day. Takeru was always lurking around, giving Terushima the evils, but the blonde wasn’t willing to let Hinata out of his sight. Not even for a moment. They went to breakfast, lunch and dinner, Hinata genuinely able to enjoy it for the first time in a while. The others were careful not to breach the topic of sex, which was quite unusual for them. Instead, everyone decided to spend the day roasting Terushima.

      Higa raised an eyebrow at the table. “What’s tall, lanky and full of metal?”

      “Terushima,” Bobata responded almost instantly.

      “That’s not even a roast! First of all, I only have two ear piercings, a tongue piercing and dermal piercings. And I’m not lanky, asshole! I have muscle!”

      “The only muscle you have is in your pants,” Bobata responded with a snort. “And it probably doesn’t even work.”

      “Shut up!”

      Terushima flushed bright red and turned his attention down to the fried fish in front of him. It looked quite nice, actually. It was a very British-sounding dish, fish and chips. To be honest, it _was_ nice. It was one of the nicest things the prison had served in _weeks_. Hinata was chowing his food down with glee, enjoying the way the fish felt smooth and well-cooked in his mouth. Hinata noticed Terushima swiping a chip from his tray, although he didn’t bother to interject. After everything Terushima had done for him, Hinata could definitely spare a chip for him.

      “Terushima, you’re honestly such a fatass. I bet his alphabet starts with KFC,” Higa joked.

      “You’re being too nice, Higa. The man’s illiterate—”

      “I am _not_ illiterate! I went to university!”

      “Terushima, going to the cinema and watching Monsters University doesn’t count as going to university,” Bobata mock-scolded, although he relented when he saw the pout that Terushima was wearing on his face.

      “Higa, you can’t call me a fatass. You’re the one who had a _whole rack of barbecue ribs_ and wouldn’t share with anyone. You were walking around with barbecue sauce on your forehead for three days.”

      Higa looked around in dismay when he realised that Terushima had gone from being the joke to being the _joker_. Even _Bobata_ was laughing at Higa’s expense.

      “Well, you know what your chance is of getting Hinata to like you? Hi _nada_.”

      At this joke, Hinata looked up from his tray and over at Terushima, whose grin had disappeared. Terushima’s entire demeanour had changed, and the whole table could sense it. Bobata elbowed Higa roughly, a clear sign that he should’ve just kept his mouth shut, but it didn’t matter. He’d already spoken.

      But before anyone could actually break the silence, there was a loud yell from the Mukankei table. Takeru was standing up with blood dripping from his lip. He’d hopped up to his feet and promptly slammed his tray to the ground, drawing even more attention to his table.

      “What _asshole_ put razors in my fucking fish? They taste like ass! What the fuck?!”

      Before any C.O. could attempt to approach him, he stormed in the direction of the Karasuno and Nekoma table, where the members were all minding their business. Kageyama had a self-satisfied smirk on his face, although no-one would’ve guessed that he’d been the one to plant razors in Takeru’s food. Most people knew that Kageyama wasn’t the type to get hands-on when it came to revenge.

      Kageyama glanced in Takeru’s direction. “Something you need, Nakashima?”

      “It’s _Takeru_ ,” he roared, slamming his fists on the table. “You fucking wankstain. Get the fuck up and fight me. I know it was you! You want me to shove those razors all the way down your fucking throat? I’ll fucking do it, asshole! Fucking wanker—”

      Tsukishima flicked a bottle lid in Takeru’s face, feigning nonchalance mere seconds later. “Oh, were you there? Sorry. I was just hearing some annoying buzzing, so…”

      “Fuck you! Fuck you! Fuck—goddamnit, let me go, you fucking bastard!”

      A C.O. had finally come to restrain him, one of the more muscular ones. He’d even come armed with handcuffs, which were promptly slapped onto Takeru’s wrists. He was carted out, another C.O. following to make sure that Takeru didn’t make any more moves. It was at last that a female C.O. went and retrieved Takeru’s tray, taking it over to the dumping area. Indeed, beneath the pristine white flesh of the fish, there was a sharp glint of metal. She didn’t notice though, she just disposed of the food without a second glance.

      And for Hinata, there was a sharp sense of relief that hit him when he realised that Takeru was gone. At least, for now.

      _He’ll come back, though. He always comes back_.

***

      The next evening, the Johzenji decided to get the decorations and food back out, proclaiming that since Takeru, “that asshole with the tattoos that are so trash that they should be called trashtoos” was gone, they had even more reason to celebrate. Everyone had seemingly forgotten about how Higa had blurted out the fact that Terushima liked Hinata the night before, but it didn’t seem to matter. The two were still acting normally around one another.

      “Hey, guys,” Hinata said, taking a break from his laughing to put a hand up. “I’m going to go to the toilet.”

      “Oh, oh. Don’t go to the Johzenji bathroom,” Terushima said. “Someone, _cough_ Higa—”

      “It wasn’t me, asshole!”

      “—clogged up one of the toilets and now we can’t go in there ‘til the C.Os deal with the clogging. Go to the Karasuno one. Actually, I should walk you there. Just give me a moment.”

      “No, it’s fine. Takeru’s gone, right? I don’t have anything to fear anymore.”

      Terushima still had worry in his eyes. “Are you sure you’ll be alright?”

      “I think you should be worrying about yourself,” Hinata said, looking over at Numajiri. He was currently shuffling the cards, Tsuchiyu keeping a keen eye on his hands. Numajiri was known for cheating every now and again when he was at a bit of a losing streak — well, just like he was now. Exactly nine losses, but only one win. “I’m about to demolish you at Uno. Again.”

      “Oh, shut up,” Terushima scoffed. “You’re so full of shit that it’s starting to come out of your mouth. Go to the toilet and then you’ll see sense.”

      “At least I can actually _see_. You’re blinded by your delusions, Metalshima,” Hinata swiftly responded. At this, Bobata let out a loud snort of laughter, while Terushima had a look of disbelief on his face.

      “Why does everyone make fun of me? And I’ll say it again, _I barely have any piercings_.”

      “Terushima, you’re an idiot. It’s easy to make fun of idiots because they’re always doing something stupid,” Bobata joked. “You’re the king of idiots.”

      “Don’t call me a king. Yikes.”

      “Well, I’m not calling you Star Platinum.”

      “You’re just salty,” Terushima responded with a smirk. “You wish you could have a cool name like Star Platinum—”

      “No-one calls you that,” Bobata droned.

      “Again, you’re just being a salt lord.”

      “Hey, let’s play a quick round of Uno before Hinata gets back,” Numajiri proposed, handing everyone their respective sets of cards. “This’ll be over in _one swoop_.”

      While everyone had been busy roasting Terushima, Numajiri had slipped some +4s into his hand of cards. Now, he was bound to win.

      “Fuck you, Numajiri,” Terushima said, turning his attention away from the door and over to the Uno pile where everyone else had gathered to play. “You’re on!”

***

      When Hinata stepped into the Karasuno bathroom, Kageyama just happened to be in there, washing his hands. Somehow, Hinata knew it wasn’t a coincidence. Kageyama had a knack for setting things up so that they would tilt in his favour.

      “Terushima said the toilets were clogged,” Hinata said, his tone implying that he knew Kageyama had most likely had something to do with it, “so he told me to come here. That’s alright with you, yeah?”

      “Yeah.”

      He still hadn’t turned around to face Hinata. Hinata knew that there was no reason for him to be spending so long just _washing his hands_. The last time they’d spoken to each other had been so long ago that Hinata couldn’t remember the exact day nor moment.

      “If you’re going to kill me, then just do it.”

      “ _What_?” Kageyama wheeled around, not quite sure what Hinata was thinking.

      “I’m the reason that Nishinoya and the others are in the SHU. I know what happens to people that cross you. So, if you’re going to do it, do it now because I’m tired of waiting.”

      Kageyama stared in shock, not quite sure how to respond to Hinata. Killing him hadn’t even been an option. It never would be, no matter what Hinata did to him.

      “If you’re going to do it… just make it quick. I don’t want it to hurt—”

      Hinata stopped speaking when Kageyama wrapped his arms around him all of a sudden, engulfing him in a bubble of warmth. For eyes as cold as Kageyama’s, his embrace was surprisingly warm. Hinata could feel Kageyama’s affection, as stilted as it was. He’d thought about lying next to Kageyama on many a sleepless night, but this must’ve been the first time that Hinata really got to know the feeling of listening to Kageyama’s heartbeat.

      It was comforting.

      “I know I’m meant to be angry,” Kageyama began, “and I am.”

      Hinata stiffened. _Kageyama’s going to knife him now, isn’t he? Maybe it’ll be like Romeo and Juliet, but the gay prison gang version_ —

      “Not at you, but myself. I’m stupid. I thought you could defend yourself against him… not to blame you or anything, but… I just… I completely misread the situation. I didn’t realise until that day in the cafeteria that something was off,” Kageyama said, the words just tumbling out from his lips. “I knew. He grabbed your wrist and I noticed the bruises and then I just _knew_. And then he started talking shit, but I didn’t care, all I could think about was the fact that he hurt you and then I hit him, but that doesn’t even begin to make up for what he did—”

      “Kageyama,” Hinata said, realising that Kageyama was beginning to get in his head again. “It’s not your fault—”

      “I said I’d protect you, but I got fucking distracted by this fucking Aida drama and now none of it makes any difference! I got rid of him, but I was too late—”

      “Kageyama, stop blaming yourself—”

      “But I made a _promise_ —”

      “Stop blaming yourself. You fulfilled that promise.” Hinata tightened his arms around Kageyama, hoping that Kageyama would just relax. He was always so tense…

      “I mean, look. You thought I was going to kill you, for God’s sake,” Kageyama said, releasing his grip on Hinata at last and taking a step back towards the hand driers. “You were scared of me. I saw it in your eyes. You were scared.”

      “No, Kageyama, I’m not—”

      “You were scared!”

      When Kageyama raised his hands, Hinata let out a shocked gasp when he saw all the cuts that were on Kageyama’s hands. They were little red cuts which had stopped leaking blood. It was as if he’d been stabbed multiple times by tiny blunt blades and then had salt sprinkled over the wounds. And judging by how red and sore Kageyama’s hands looked, that probably _was_ the case. It didn’t mean that they looked any less painful though. Kageyama’s skin had been so clear before. Like porcelain. Now…

      “I don’t know what I want from you anymore,” Kageyama admitted. The sorrow was dripping from his words. “I tell you to stay away from me, but then I muscle my way into your life. I’m nothing but destruction—”

      “Then let me fix you—”

      “How can you fix me when you’re broken yourself?” The words weren’t intended to be harsh, but Hinata still felt a slight sting at the words. “You were fine when you walked into this shithole, but now… I can see it in your eyes. He broke you down. He broke you down, and I was too late. Now you’re just as much of a fuck-up as I am.”

      “Takeru broke me long before I walked into this place. I just covered my scars with happiness,” Hinata responded at last, tears welling in his eyes. “Even now, I’m not facing it the way I should. I’m just… I’m just being happy when I don’t feel happy. Not really… but that’s _not_ your fault.”

      “I don’t care. I’m still taking responsibility.”

      Hinata reached out and took one of Kageyama’s hands into his, relieved when Kageyama didn’t flinch out of his touch. Kageyama was comfortable around him. Not completely, but Hinata knew that Kageyama had given him his trust.

      “You hurt yourself…”

      “These cuts are nothing. I’d give all my limbs to keep you safe.”

      It alarmed Hinata just how serious Kageyama sounded. While Kageyama had his selfless moments, they were usually reserved for his Karasuno men or for his own personal gain.

      But this? This was something else.

      “I’m giving my trust to you,” Kageyama continued, his voice somewhat shaky. “So, now that you’re not under anyone’s control… I hope that you don’t betray it.”

      “Why? Why me, Kageyama?”

      “Because,” Kageyama began, “I see myself in you.”

      The two stared at each other in silence before unclasping hands at last, Kageyama casting one last glance in Hinata’s direction before leaving the bathroom. Hinata stared after Kageyama’s retreating figure then looked down at his hands, hands which had held Kageyama’s.

      It was then that Hinata finally allowed himself to cry.

      Hinata didn’t know why he was crying. Maybe it was at the fact he’d betrayed Kageyama the way he did; maybe it was at how Kageyama’s eyes had become sad when Hinata spoke the words _kill me_. He didn’t know. But, he knew one thing for sure. He was irrefutably and irrevocably in love with Kageyama, and he could already taste the danger which was threatening to rise out of these emotions of his. Love was one thing.

      Being in love with Kageyama Tobio was another thing entirely.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hii, so I recently made an account on 'ko-fi', a site where people can send me a 'ko-fi' (a $3 tip) after a suggestion from a writing buddy. My link is [http://ko-fi.com/natashas](url)  
> Anyways, feel free to take a look if you'd like to support me in my writing ventures. It's entirely optional, but any support is appreciated <3


	15. Skinheads, Potheads and Blockheads

Chapter Fifteen: Skinheads, Potheads and Blockheads

      It was eleven a.m. when Terushima swaggered into the Johzenji bathroom, which had been mysteriously fixed overnight. The ‘Out of Service’ sign on the door had also disappeared. Hinata was there, standing in front of a mirror with a towel wrapped around his waist as he tried his best to tame his hair. From the looks of it, he had plans for today.

      “Hey, you.” Terushima waved in Hinata’s direction, earning himself a wave in response. Hinata was still focused on his reflection though, trying to make it match the ideal Hinata he had in his mind. For some moments, Hinata even considered cutting his hair off. Maybe he could pull off the skinhead look. Then again, he’d look a bit too much like a stereotypical inmate.

      “I hate my hair,” Hinata yelled at last, slamming his comb down on the counter with a frustrated _hmph_. “It never does what I want it to! How hard is it to just… _lay down_? It’s going all over the place! This strand’s going _gwaaah_ when it should be going _gwah_!”

      Terushima didn’t even bother to point out that he couldn’t tell the difference between ‘gwaaah’ and ‘gwah’ (using logic with Hinata never really seemed to work). Instead, he walked towards Hinata, inspecting the unruly locks of hair a bit more closely. His hair was mostly dry (although there were some parts at the bottom that were dripping onto his shoulders every now and again) but it had gone slightly frizzy from the steam of the shower, and there were random bits of hair sticking out.

      “It’s grown out a bit,” Terushima noted, his hand moving of its own volition. He was tempted to start touching Hinata’s hair like he always did, but was somehow able to restrain himself this time around. He quickly took control of his own hand and pulled it back down to his own side, reminding himself not to be creepy. “Say, maybe I should give you an undercut. We can be undercut twins.”

      “Really?” Hinata had stars in his eyes when he thought about it. “Yeah! That sounds cool!”

      “Alright. Looks like I’m going to help Numajiri out in the salon,” Terushima said, excited at the prospect of getting to cut Hinata’s hair. “You know he runs the salon with one of the Shiratorizawa members? Reon, I think it is. I wish I could spend more time in the salon…”

      “Why don’t you?”

      Terushima shrugged. “People still don’t like us, you know. Can’t blame them. I’d be a bit dubious if I had a pothead doing my hair for me, after all.” His tone was jokey, but there was a sense of lament that lay beneath them. “Everyone forgets that Numajiri’s part of us so it’s fine for him. The rest of us though…”

      “You’re not just a pothead,” Hinata furiously insisted. “There’s nothing wrong with weed! Everyone in the Johzenji is amazing, okay? It doesn’t matter what you all did in the past. All I know is that you guys are the same people who have made me feel like I belong, so if anyone doesn’t like you, they can _get bent_. And you know what? Your hair looks amazing! So my hair’s going to look amazing too, alright?”

      Terushima was slightly taken aback by the sudden burst of energy, although he didn’t complain. He felt himself flushing bright red when Hinata grinned at him, that same starry-eyed look on his face.

      “I’m going to warn you though, this is _not_ easy to work with,” Hinata added, putting his own hands in his hair to illustrate his point.

      “Don’t worry.” Terushima finally returned Hinata’s smile. “I’ll make it work.”

      Hinata really was a bottle. One day, he’d be low, and the next it would be as if he were on a high. Filling with happiness, the happiness spilling out of him as he crashes to the ground, but fate filling him to the brim with happiness once more. It was a cycle, a cycle that made Hinata oh-so-adaptable. But Terushima was just a Swiss Knife. Useful, but replaceable.

      “Hey, by the way, I’m not going to be at lunch today. Kageyama invited me to have lunch with him! Should I tell him that you said hi?”

      _Yup_ , Terushima thought, _definitely replaceable_.

      “Yeah. Feel free to tell him I said hi.” Terushima had quite a few choice words for Kageyama, many of which could be interpreted as not-so-polite, but he decided to opt for the safest one. Hi.

      “Sure! Now, just wait a minute. I’ll get dressed and then we can go to the salon,” Hinata said, walking back over to the shower area. Before Takeru’s arrival, he’d been a lot freer whenever he was getting dressed up (or dressed down, really). The whole of Johzenji had been like that, shaving each other’s back hair and complimenting each other as they got dressed in the same space every morning. But Hinata had become a lot shier ever since, so he wouldn’t really join in anymore. It was understandable — Hinata’s emotional healing wouldn’t be exactly quick — but it still made Terushima regretful that he’d been unable to do anything about Takeru.

      He should’ve done something sooner.

      “Alright,” Hinata said at last, walking out with some fresh clothes on. “Let’s go!”

***

      When Hinata came into Kageyama’s room a few minutes after noon, the latter stopped what he was doing to stare at Hinata, _really_ stare at him. His hair had _changed_. Before, it had grown out to his shoulders, but now it was shorter, much shorter. Kageyama had also put some effort into his look, having guessed that Hinata would drop by, but he hadn’t gone as far as to cut his hair like Hinata had.

      “What do you think of my haircut? Now me and Terushima are twins!”

      Hinata shook his hair out, beaming with pride when he noticed how Kageyama’s eyes followed his every movement hungrily. But once Kageyama heard the name _Terushima_ , he couldn’t help the frown that marred his lips. Hinata was quick to notice the frown on Kageyama’s face, although he wasn’t exactly sure what Kageyama was frowning about now. Maybe it was just one of those times that Kageyama frowned without actually realising that he was frowning.

      “What’s wrong? You don’t like it?”

      Kageyama quickly diverted his attention away from Terushima and onto the hair, which looked so damn amazing that it was unfair. Kageyama was convinced that Hinata’s secret ability was to pull off any hairstyle he decided to try out. He could pull off casual Hinata-styled hair, he could pull off the bedhead style and now he was pulling off the bad-boy style.

      “I like it,” Kageyama said. “Very much.”

      It was Hinata’s turn to frown. “That’s it?”

      “What? I said I like it,” Kageyama huffed, not understanding what Hinata was getting at. “Am I meant to get on my knees and praise the hair lords?”

      “Fine, fine. Be difficult,” Hinata huffed back, shuffling over to sit on the foot of Kageyama’s bed. “What are we eating today?”

      “You’ll see.”

      “You can’t just leave me hanging like that,” Hinata insisted. “ _Kageyama_.”

      Kageyama didn’t respond. He simply walked over to Hinata and sat down beside him, placing an apple in his hand. “If you’re _that_ hungry, eat that while we wait.”

      Hinata frowned, still curious to know just what Kageyama was planning.

      “I don’t like apples,” Hinata said at last, throwing the apple over to the opposite side of the room. The second the apple left his hand, he realised that he might end up making Kageyama mad, but when he turned to face Kageyama, he saw that Kageyama was laughing on his behalf.

      “You’re such a child.”

      “Shut up! I’m older now!”

      Kageyama smirked. “I’ve got six years on you, Hinata. Besides, you’re still the same height as a schoolkid.”

      “Six? More like _sixty_ ,” Hinata muttered. “You’re like a granddad. Always forcing me to eat fruits and vegetables. Plus, you always go on about the _good old days_.”

      “Shut up. I know where your pressure points are,” Kageyama said, prompting Hinata to cover said pressure points on his head. Hinata frowned at him, although he eventually started giggling when Kageyama mimicked his frown. Kageyama couldn’t get over just how endearing Hinata could be.

      There was a knock on the door, cutting Hinata’s giggles short as he turned his attention away from Kageyama and to the door.

      “Come in,” Kageyama yelled.

      In came Towada, who was carrying a box of pizza. Hinata was genuinely surprised to see that it was a fresh box of pizza, most likely straight from a takeaway. He could smell it from where he was sitting. Keeping a careful eye on Towada, Hinata slowly shifted his hands from his head to his lap.

      “I have the margherita you asked for, Kageyama-san,” Towada muttered, clearly humiliated by the fact that he was being forced to deliver pizza to an inmate. Not just any inmate, but Kageyama Tobio. “It’s a large.”

      “Good, good. Bring it over here,” Kageyama said, amused by the shocked expression on Hinata’s face.

      Towada did as told, hastily placing the box in Kageyama’s hands.

      “At least offer it with a bow,” Kageyama said, smirking when he saw the frustration that appeared on Towada’s face. “Or is there a problem?”

      “No,” Towada forced through a clenched jaw, “there’s no problem.”

      He bowed his head to Kageyama, then Hinata, then lifted his head at last as he quickly left the room. Kageyama had that same old smirk on his face while Hinata was staring down at the pizza, slightly in disbelief but mostly in awe.

      “That was so cool…”

      “I hope you like margherita,” Kageyama began to say. “If not, I’ll ask that dog to get a different type.”

      “N…No. It’s fine. Margherita’s my favourite.” Hinata knew better than to ask about what was going on with Towada. Instead, he flicked the box open with one hand and took a steaming slice of pizza, biting into it with visible glee. “Ah, God. I haven’t had pizza in months… God, this is good… _oh_ , it’s stuffed crust!”

      Kageyama took a slice and began to dig in, realising that Hinata was in fact right. This was some damned good pizza. The two ate in silence until there was only one slice left, which they both reached for at the same time. Their hands touched, causing Kageyama to blush. Hinata leaned in to look at Kageyama’s hand at the same time Kageyama pulled his hand away, causing Hinata to blush this time around. They both sat there in embarrassed silence for a few moments, until Hinata broke the silence.

      “You have the last slice.”

      Kageyama shook his head. “It’s yours.”

      “You ordered the pizza. Have it,” Hinata insisted.

      “I’m full. You have it. It’s cool.”

      “You don’t have to show off by offering me the last piece, you know. Have it.”

      “I said you can have it, dumbass!”

      “I said you can have it first, Bakageyama!”

      “You know what? No-one’s having it,” Kageyama decided at last, slamming the lid of the pizza box down. Hinata promptly lifted it back up and continued to insist that Kageyama eat it before his flesh _melted into his bones_ to which Kageyama responded that if Hinata didn’t eat it, Hinata wouldn’t be able to develop the brain cells necessary to just _shut up_. At last, after some heated arguing and loud huffing from Hinata, Kageyama ended up ripping the slice in half and handing one piece to Hinata, who accepted it with yet another one of his now-infamous huffs. The two ate their halves in angry silence, although by the end of it, they were casually talking about how good it tasted and that they should order more one of these days.

      At last, Kageyama found himself with an uncontrollable need to ask the question which had been niggling at his brain for quite some time. It had been burning itself into a small spot in his brain, garnering more and more of his attention until Kageyama couldn’t think of anything except that damn question. He’d been thinking about it so much that it was beginning to hurt. The possibilities flooding his rational side, his subconscious dominating the conversation with all of these stupid thoughts… like, come on. Just because they have the same haircut, share the same square and smoke weed together doesn’t mean they’re in love or anything because that would be stupid. Hinata has standards, doesn’t he? _Of course he does. But then again, he picked Kageyama. Okay, so maybe he doesn’t. But…_

      “Kageyama, you’re making that face again. What’s—”

“How close are you with Terushima?” Kageyama flushed, realising that he’d unintentionally blurted out the question.

      “Pretty close, I guess,” Hinata responded without hesitation. “He’s like my best friend. He always cheers me up when I’m sad and does really thoughtful things. Plus, he’s into some really good manga!”

       Kageyama felt relief beginning to flood his mind. Hinata had begun to list down all of the good manga that Terushima liked, citing titles like Boku no Hero Academia and Haikyuu, but it might as well have been gibberish to Kageyama. Perhaps if they ever made it to the outside, Kageyama would make an effort to read all the manga in the world just so he could have a common interest that he shared with Hinata. If manga made Hinata burble on like this with that adorable smile on his face, then Kageyama would gladly spend his fortune on all the manga in the world.

      “And the rest of the Johzenji? How are they treating you?”

      “What, are you worried about me?” Hinata smirked up at Kageyama, whose expression was a mix between embarrassment and irritation. After some moments, Hinata relented and decided to appease Kageyama with a response. “They’re all my friends. They’re treating me well, I promise. Although, they’ve been whooping my ass at _Uno_ recently…”

      “Good.”

      “What? That’s not good, that’s bad!”

      Kageyama rolled his eyes, but a smile appeared on his lips as he nodded along with it. There was something about Hinata’s childish nature that made him really endearing to Kageyama. His obsession with manga, card games and all sorts was really _really_ endearing.

      “You still taking your medication?”

      “Yes, yes. Jeez, Kageyama. You’re acting like my mom.”

      Kageyama snorted. “As long as you’re okay.”

      “What about you, Kageyama? How are you?”

      He thought for a few moments before responding. “Stressed. I tried to negotiate with Aida to see if they would start selling cigarettes in commissary, but she won’t budge on that one. I’ve already managed to negotiate about the kitchen staffing and visitation. I don’t want to bore you with the details, but it’s a lot of meetings. Lots of conversations. It’s tiring. Not to mention, I’m dying for some cigarettes. I haven’t smoked in over a week…”

      “Well, if you feel like it, you can make the switch over to weed.”

      Kageyama’s look told Hinata everything he needed to know.

      “Okay. Fine. Forget I suggested it,” Hinata said, rolling his eyes. “If you’re stressed, we can do something fun. Like _Uno_. I brought it with me if you want to play…”

      “Actually, before that, um…” Kageyama leant over to the ground and retrieved a plain white envelope before sitting back up once more, placing the letter in Hinata’s hand. “I… uh… I wrote this letter. Think of it as a birthday present. Or something…” Kageyama was blushing so hard that Hinata was surprised that he hadn’t passed out yet.

      “What’s in it?”

      Kageyama’s expression wasn’t revealing anything.

      “Can I open it?”

      Kageyama raised his eyebrows in response.

      “Come on, _say something_ ,” Hinata urged, becoming irritated by Kageyama’s silence. “I can’t tell what you’re thinking if you don’t say anything, you know! You can’t just make scary facial expressions—”

      “My face is _not_ scary—”

      “—and expect me to know what to do,” Hinata loudly finished, arms folded defiantly. “Can! I! Open! It! Right—”

      “Just open it, dumbass!”

      “So rude,” Hinata muttered, but he opened the envelope anyway, making sure not to tear any of the paper. There was a pack of gum and a single letter. He pulled the letter out and flicked it open, surprised to see that Kageyama’s handwriting was a lot neater than usual. It looked like he’d put quite a bit of time into writing this.

      “Can you read it to me?”

      “Dumbass, that would defeat the point of me putting it in a letter. Dumbass.”

      “Why do you have to say it twice?”

      “Because once isn’t enough,” Kageyama swiftly responded.

      “Well, you know what? You’re a triple idiot.”

      “Quadruple idiot.”

      Before Hinata could respond, Kageyama held up the letter and pressed it to Hinata’s face. “Just read the damn letter already!”

      “Some gentleman you are,” Hinata muttered sarcastically, although he took hold of the letter at last and focused his eyes on it, trying not to feel too unnerved by the fact that Kageyama was watching him _really_ intently.

**Hinata,**

**I am destructive.**

**I will ruin everything that comes close to you.**

**If you choose me, you’ll lose your chance at living a normal life.**

**But, if you do, I’ll become the best version of myself. When we get on the outside, I’ll learn how to play volleyball. I remember you telling me that I could be a setter. I’ll learn how to set. I’ll set any ball for you, wherever you want it to go. And I’ll spend my nights talking to you about manga. I’ll read Boku no Hero whatever it’s called and I’ll even decide on a ‘best girl’, whatever that means.**

**Either way, if you’re in my life, I won’t be able to stay away from you.**

**So, it’s your choice. (You should say no, but I already know you won’t.)**

**-Kageyama**

      “You’re so cocky,” Hinata said at last, looking up at Kageyama. Kageyama couldn’t deduce anything from Hinata’s expression. At first, Kageyama was scared that Hinata was going to end it. He was scared. But then, when Hinata finally smiled, Kageyama felt himself beginning to relax. “I can’t stay away from you either, Kageyama. So… destroy everything. That way, we can build a new world from the ruins.”

      Kageyama let out a sigh of contentment at Hinata’s words, promptly burying his head in Hinata’s shoulder and nuzzling. Hinata was taken aback by the affectionate action, his cheeks beginning to go warm with embarrassment when he felt Kageyama murmuring against his skin.

      “I’ve been dying to do this for ages… my neck’s starting to crick though. You’re too short—”

      “I’m not even that short!”

      “Even as a teenager, I was probably taller than you.”

      “You suck.”

      “You shrink.”

      “That doesn’t even make _sense_ ,” Hinata exclaimed in exasperation.

      “Your face doesn’t make sense,” Kageyama retorted.

      “And you call me childish…”

      “No, I called you a child. There’s a difference.”

      “Kageyama… you really suck. And you’re an idiot.”

      “Well, you suck more. And you’re a dumbass. _And_ you suck.”

      Hinata rolled his eyes. He’d been considering mentioning the fact that Kageyama was basically reusing the same two insults, but at last, he decided to be the bigger person. “How long are you going to keep this going for?”

      “How long are you going to keep being short?”

      “Shut up, damnit. You sound like Tsukishima.”

      “Actually, that’s true. Alright. You win,” Kageyama said, letting out a breathless laugh against Hinata’s shoulder. The sound of Kageyama’s genuine laugh was something rare to Hinata. He liked it, really liked the sound of it. Especially when it was so close to him.

      The two remained like that, relaxing in each other’s company and warmth as the minutes ticked by. They eventually dozed off like that, Kageyama falling into a nightmare-free nap for the first time in months. For Hinata, it was the first peaceful nap he’d had in months. How could it be that Kageyama was his remedy, while at the same time, he was a danger?

      How could that make sense?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Uhh, just a brief warning. I've got some pretty important exams coming up (to give a brief overview, if I fail, I won't be able to take this certain subject to any sort of intermediate level and if I can't take this subject at college, I can't aim towards my chosen career path so I'll basically be nothing but a college dropout who will never amount to anything).
> 
> okay, maybe it's not that deep but you get the gist. I really need to catch up on my studying. I'll be attending more revision sessions, getting more help from people and going to the library, so between all of that, I really don't have any more time to keep writing chapters. Not just for this fic, but for all the others I'm yet to update.
> 
> I've already written most of the chapters for this in advance (don't worry, I'm not making the plot up as I go) along with my other fics, but I usually proof-read any chapters I post to make sure I haven't made any errors, once in Word then on here, then I copy any changes into the original document and make slight corrections to make the sentences flow better and so on, so the process of uploading a new chapter usually takes quite a while for me. For a chapter like this, it would usually be about an hour? I sometimes like to add A/Ns like this too, so that time's factored in as well.
> 
> But even THEN, some errors still manage to make it into the final product. I remember looking back to one of the older chapters a few days ago and realising that I'd written the wrong character name in during some sort of dialogue scene. It's little things, but it's just... AGHH. I apologise, guys. One day I'll redeem myself with an impeccably written chapter that manages to shock even me and then I'll finally feel like a somewhat worthy writer, but until then, I hope y'all enjoyed this chapter! Depending on how May goes, it'll more or less dictate how frequent my posting becomes. I promise I won't get too behind though (I'll probably post once a month rather than twice a month, unless it's a short chapter). I've just got to divide my priorities for a while. Everything'll be back on track by the end of May, I promise! Love you guys, and thanks for reading <3


	16. They Call Her Autumn

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Johzenji get in their feelings.  
> (ft. dancing Suga, irritated Tsukishima and confused Kageyama)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, just a brief note for everyone who's been waiting for this update:  
> I recently made alterations to all of the chapters. Most of them were just little things (e.g. removing unnecessary dialogue, adding some extra bits) but I made a LOT of changes to Chapter 7 (namely concerning who does what) and the endings of Chapters 14 & 15 have also changed a bit. I also removed one scene from Chapter 5 and a flashback from Chapter 11. The changes aren't so significant that the entire plot has changed, so there's no need to go back and re-read the chapters, but I just thought I'd mention it.

Chapter Sixteen: They Call Her Autumn

      “Hey, guys. I need to talk about something serious,” Terushima said, waving the rest of the Johzenji out of their squares. They’d just had lunch (Terushima would’ve preferred something a bit more edible, but oh well) and made their way back to their dorm together. It had felt a little quiet without Hinata’s presence, although that didn’t mean lunch hadn’t been any less enjoyable. With the aid of some flavouring sachets, the food had been somewhat tolerable.

      “Oh, Terushima. I was meaning to apologise for what I said the other day,” Higa said, coming out of his square with a bag of cheese and onion crisps, “you know, about you liking Hinata. Sorry. That was out of order.”

      “No. It’s cool. He thinks you meant a platonic like.”

      The two fist-bumped, evidence that they’d made up, and turned their attention to the rest of the Johzenji who were coming out of their squares with their respective food items. Of course, there was a C.O. keeping an eye on them, but they’d learned to just pretend that the C.O. wasn’t there.

      “Terushima, what’s up? You don’t usually do serious,” Bobata said.

      “Well… I was talking to Hinata earlier. He was asking me why we don’t work in the hair salon.”

      At the mention of the salon, the mood in the room became just that little bit darker. That hair salon carried bad memories for almost everyone in the room, save for that one overweight C.O. who was too busy munching on chocolate bars and reading pornographic magazines behind the protection of his glass window to care about what the inmates were doing.

      Numajiri frowned. “You didn’t tell him what happened that day, right?”

      _Six years ago, they’d all gone to the salon to do hair like they usually did. But the salon had been completely trashed. Hair products poured out into the sink, mixed with bleach and acid. Red paint on the mirrors._

**_No-one likes you rapists!_ **

**_You’re trash! Vile!_ **

**_Don’t even bother touching our hair, punks!_ **

**_The Johzenji — they’ll fuck up your asshole, and then your hair._ **

      _There were members of the Mukankei who had been waiting for them to approach. Once they stepped into the salon, they were jumped by twenty-one men. The seven of them, beaten. Almost to the brink of death. Told that if they ever stepped foot in there again, they wouldn’t live to touch anyone’s hair ever again. Now, it’s only Numajiri and Shiratorizawa’s Reon that work in there_.

      “No. I just said that people don’t like us.”

      Higa snorted. “That’s an understatement. They hate us almost as much as they hate Karasuno. And even then, Karasuno do some good things every now and again. They made visitation better. They made the C.Os treat us more fairly. They even got us movie Mondays. They’re strong, so no-one wants to get rid of them. But what about us? We just get high and talk about things that don’t really matter.”

      “We’ve done bad things,” Terushima said at last, exhaling deeply. “Things that I regret every single day of my life. Things that no decent man should’ve ever done. Hinata knows that. And even so, he still insists that we were the best thing to happen to him.”

      “It ruined my relationship with my family,” Higa admitted. “My mom couldn’t believe that I’d been doing the things I did, so… yeah. They disowned me. Moved away. I’ll never get to see my siblings again. But, I raped someone. We all did. Passed her around. We’re shit.” The usually jolly Higa had tears forming in his eyes at the mere thought of it.

      “I was starting a career in acting. You guys remember, right? Back when I dyed my hair like every other month or so. I landed a lead role in this robot movie around the same time the truth came out,” Bobata admitted, “and I got kicked off the movie. No director wanted anything to do with me. It was… it was horrible.”

      At last, Tsuchiyu spoke. “We’ve never really talked about it, have we?”

      “No,” Terushima said, “we haven’t.”

      They’d always tried to get around it by being the fun-loving party group, but now their emotions were all coming to light. They’d been bottling them up for _years_.

      “In that case,” Bobata said, “how do we move forwards?”

      “Like this,” Higa said, beginning to walk forwards. At first, Bobata thought that Higa was trying to make some shitty pun, and went to scold him for joking around at a time like this, but then Higa began to elaborate. “We learn how to be better people. If we stay in this dorm, we won’t learn anything new. Hinata came to this dorm and taught us just what human decency can do. So… we go out. We start working in the salon again. If Hinata believes we can change, then…”

      “We can change,” Bobata said at last.

      “Yeah. Change,” Higa echoed.

      “I just wanted to apologise,” Terushima said at last. “As your captain, I should’ve… I should’ve known better. I’m the one who ruined your dreams. I’m the one who fucked it all up— _ow_!”

      Higa had karate-chopped Terushima on the head, causing the blonde to clutch his own head in pain. “Shut up,” Higa said. “You’re not taking responsibility for this, damnit. We made choices. All of us did. They were the wrong choices. We’re not the people who deserve apologies, Terushima. The people whose lives we ruined are the ones who deserve the apologies. I doubt they want them, though. It wouldn’t change a thing.”

      “S…Sorry. You’re right.” Terushima was still rubbing his head.

      “Numajiri, can you talk to Reon and see if there’s any chance we could start up in the salon again? Even if it’s just doing clean-up at the end of the day… I just miss it,” Tsuchiyu said. “We all do.”

      “Yeah. Of course.” Numajiri put his hand out. “We’ll all move forwards together.” The rest of the Johzenji put their hands in the middle, letting out a loud whoop as they threw their hands up in the air. They were promptly yelled at by the chocolate-chomping C.O., who told them to “shut the fuck up and go do something useful”, but they didn’t care. Terushima gave him the finger.

      “Terushima, you can’t stick your finger up at C.Os,” Numajiri said. “That’s hardly moving forwards.” The C.O. was writing up a shot for Terushima behind the glass, but Terushima didn’t really care too much.

      “C.Os are still assholes. That won’t change.”

      The rest of them chuckled. “Yeah.”

      In a mock whisper, Higa said, “Now, who wants to smoke some weed?”

      The cheers that ensued from the other four men were answer enough. They’d taken to smoking outside, since they were no longer allowed to use their dorms. So, the five of them powered outside, armed with pipes and bags of weed. Sure, they were going to change their personalities. They were going to change their not-so-savoury habits. Weed, though? That was one of the few things that would remain.

      After all, weed was what made Johzenji _the_ Johzenji.

***

      When Karasuno and Nekoma made their way into the cafeteria that evening for dinner, they were surprised to see that the entire cafeteria was singing. The Johzenji were sitting on their table, rather than on the seats, and they seemed to be leading the whole thing. Kageyama was pretty sure that they were high. Sighing, he turned right back out of the cafeteria, not even wanting to bother with the stupidity of it all. Shiratorizawa were walking around the cafeteria, acting as back-up vocals, while some members of the Mukankei were using the wall as a drum. The atmosphere in the room was so jolly that Karasuno and Nekoma were taken aback by it all.

      “Oh. Karasuno’s here.”

      Everyone turned to face the members of Karasuno and Nekoma, the whole cafeteria suddenly going quiet. They all felt very much on the spot — well, everyone except Suga, who smiled and offered the inmates an energetic wave of the hand.

      “It’s alright, guys! Carry on! Say, if you want a song recommendation, sing _Tuyo_ by Rodrigo Amarante. You know, the opening for Narcos. I love that show,” he said, walking over to where everyone was gathered. “Hey, Yamaguchi. Tsukishima. Come on, let’s join these guys!”

      “I’d rather eat,” was Tsukishima’s dry response. “Right, Yamaguchi?”

      “Mmm.” Yamaguchi shrugged at Suga. “I’m not really into singing, Suga…”

      “Come on! It’ll be fun!”

      With Suga’s constant grinning and movement, the rest of the cafeteria couldn’t help but think that Suga wasn’t that bad. Not even five minutes, and he already seemed like one of the coolest guys in the prison. Considering that he was the right hand man of Kageyama, a man who was constantly under the spotlight, not many people paid attention to Suga. But now that he was actually speaking and interacting, it seemed that he was nothing like Kageyama.

      “Hey, Suga, is it? Come up on this table,” one muscular-looking guy said, shuffling over so that there was space for Suga to stand. “We know _Tuyo_ , right, guys?”

      There was a loud cheer in response. None of the Karasuno or Nekoma members knew how something like this could’ve started — it really didn’t make any sense — and to be honest, they didn’t want to know. They just wanted their food.

      “Suga, come on,” Kuroo drawled. “Don’t get yourself any shots.”

      Suga wasn’t listening. They’d already started singing _Tuyo_ , Suga’s angelic voice filling the entire hall. Everyone else joined in, swaying back and forth while Shiratorizawa continued to dance along with the singing.

      “Jesus Christ,” Tsukishima muttered, clicking his tongue in annoyance as he moved to sit down at the Karasuno table at last. The rest of the members had already gravitated towards the table with their food, but they were distracted by all the movement and singing in the hall. For once, they weren’t the main attraction of the room. “It’s a cafeteria, not a fucking dance recital.”

      Yamaguchi raised an eyebrow at the blonde, the very same blonde who happened to spend a lot of his days in the chapel flicking through a Holy Bible. “Tsukki, should you really be saying _Jesus Christ_ and _fucking_ in the same sentence?”

      “Shut up, Yamaguchi.”

      Yamaguchi shrugged and grinned. “Sorry, Tsukki!”

      Meanwhile, Kageyama had decided to walk over to the phone call area. He was currently tapping the number keys, making his first phone call in years. It was a woman, a woman who called herself Autumn. He had no idea who this woman was, but Oikawa had said that she’d phoned in and asked him to pass her number on to Kageyama. So now, Kageyama had to find out who she was.

      The phone trilled for some moments, but at last, there was a feminine voice on the other side. “This is Autumn.”

      It didn’t sound familiar to Kageyama, not in the slightest. _Who is this woman?_

      “Hello,” Kageyama hesitantly began. “I’m Kageyama. Kageyama Tobio. My counsellor, Oikawa Tooru, told me that you wanted to speak to me.”

      “Ah, Kageyama. Is there any chance you’d be able to put me on your visitation?”

      Kageyama narrowed his eyes at the brick wall in front of him. It annoyed him that he couldn’t see this woman. Maybe if he could see her, the name ‘Autumn’ might’ve rung a bell. “Who are you?”

      She chuckled. “I already told you, Kageyama. I’m Autumn.”

      He let out a sigh of exasperation. “A full name would be nice.”

      “It’s not important what my name is. What’s important is that I have information about you,” she said, “information that you might be interested in.”

      “Not interested,” Kageyama said at last, having lost interest in this conversation. “Have a good evening—”

      “Your family’s not dead. You have a living family member.”

      Kageyama rolled his eyes, already knowing it was bullshit. His mother had died, he’d killed his own father and he’d been an only child. There were no immediate family members left in Kageyama’s life.

      “And why should I believe you? I don’t know who you are, woman.”

      “Well, I know who you are, Kageyama Tobio. You grew up in Miyagi. To be more specific, you grew up in a little flat. You used to go and shoplift from ‘Super Supermarket’ since it was close to your flat. You were caught stealing five bags of jellybeans on one occasion, so they took your picture, name and kept it in the backroom so that they could keep an eye on you for whenever you next entered the store. They never informed home, since you cried and begged them not to. You never went to school, but whenever your father wasn’t at home, you’d try your best to teach yourself whatever you needed to know by reading old newspapers around the house. So, while you were intelligent, you lacked the social skills that a child your age would’ve developed.”

      “What the hell,” Kageyama interjected at last, his glare replaced with a genuine look of confusion. He hadn’t been expecting to be read like this by a stranger. “Who the hell are you?”

      It was as if Autumn just didn’t hear him. She continued to probe as if she’d grown up right alongside Kageyama, almost as if she were Kageyama’s guardian angel. _Well, if she’s a guardian angel, she’s a pretty shitty angel, considering the fact that Kageyama’s had one too many near-death experiences_.

      “You were a precocious child with exceptional talent and speaking skills which could rival those of an adult. You were also quite cautious, but eager to discover. Your father was brutally murdered when you were ten. He bled and choked to death simultaneously. Ouch. Your father, Kageyama Akihiro, was abusive towards you, so it’s highly probable that you’re the one who murdered him. I’m surprised the police never drew that conclusion, actually. On the topic of your father, I also believe that he wasn’t the best lover towards your mother. In fact, he—”

      “ _Autumn_ , if that’s even your real name. You had better watch your words,” Kageyama growled, not liking how his mother was being brought into this little fact file of Autumn’s. “I might not know who you are right now. But I will probe, and I will discover everything about you. Two can play at this game.”

      As if not even hearing what Kageyama was saying, Autumn continued to go ahead with her little fact file. “Your mother, Chigusa Akane, went to hospital when you were younger. She was diagnosed with stage four lung cancer. You grew up to become the leader of Karasuno, a Tokyo gang which was able to evade the police for years. So, I trust this means that you believe that I’m a genuine person. Kageyama Tobio, I know things about you that you don’t know. Put me on your visitation,” Autumn said, knowing that she had Kageyama’s full attention, “and I’ll come to you in two weeks’ time.”


	17. Cycle of Death

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Three different snippets, three different characters, three different emotions  
> basically, everything's in threes. Enjoy

Chapter Seventeen: Cycle of Death

      “Hinata! Wake up!”

      Terushima was shaking Hinata awake with all of his might, causing him to jerk his head up all of a sudden. Hinata felt groggy and his eyes were practically glued together with sleepy dust and fatigue and he communicated this to Terushima, but the man might as well have been deaf. If anything, he only began to shake Hinata even harder, eventually forcing Hinata to tear his eyes open, only to squint them closed when he realised just how bright it was in the room.

      “Come on, come on,” Terushima urged, pulling on Hinata’s arm. “Get up. You need to come and see this.”

      Hinata had been sleeping in for longer than usual — he’d gone straight to bed after having his breakfast — so practically everyone in the Johzenji was up except him. He would’ve preferred it to stay that way, but Terushima didn’t seem to want to cooperate with Hinata’s sleeping patterns today.

      “Terushima, I’m tired—”

      “Seriously. You need to see this.”

      Finally, Hinata raised his body as if he were a zombie rising from a grave, tired eyes just about open as he blinked over at Terushima. He really did feel like shit. He hadn’t been able to get a peep of sleep the night before. It had been the usual — Takeru appeared, Hinata got tortured by him, Takeru laughed, Takeru did some more fucked up shit and then Hinata woke up, fell asleep, got tortured, woke up, fell asleep… it was the same old pattern. Hinata could probably recount each different variation in each different nightmare. Hell, he could even remember what he was wearing in each nightmare. Sometimes it was this prison uniform he was in, sometimes it was the sporty volleyball clothes he’d been wearing when he first met Takeru in that dark alleyway.

      Hinata slowly threw his blanket up and slid out of his bed, his body seeming to move out of sync with his usual tempo. His arms were swinging him out, but his legs were stiff and didn’t quite seem to want to move. Terushima waited semi-patiently, not urging Hinata to move faster although he was bouncing back and forth on both feet, desperate to show Hinata what he had for him.

      Finally, Hinata spoke. “This better not be about some ‘rad mole on Higa’s back’ like it was last time you woke me up like this.”

      “I swear it’s not! Come on, let’s go!”

      Terushima grabbed Hinata’s hand and pulled him through the dorm. Hinata, half-groggy, allowed himself to be dragged and tugged from corridor to corridor. He didn’t even realise that the corridors were a lot emptier than was typical for a Saturday morning. Honestly, if it wasn’t for the fact that Terushima’s grip was so firm, he might’ve fallen asleep while still on his feet. It was probably best that he didn’t go to sleep — after all, there were only so many times you could watch yourself die and pretend to not be affected by it.

      Finally, Terushima burst into the rec room with Hinata in tow, the rest of the inmates not even turning to face the two of them. They were all fixated on the TV in front of them. The first thing Hinata finally noticed was that the rec room was packed with inmates, which was very unusual. He closed his eyes, rubbed the sleepy dust out from his tear ducts and opened them once again, greeted by the sight of the massive headline on the TV screen.

**Notorious Wakunan Leader, Nakashima Takeru, has died from internal injuries sustained at Fukurodani Penitentiary!**

      At first, Hinata just read it as if it were any other normal headline. Turned to Terushima, went to say “This is what you woke me up for?”

      But then, the truth of the headline sunk in, and he shut his mouth before he could ask the question. This headline was telling him something fictional. Takeru was dead. Dead as in not breathing dead. Dead as in not living dead. Takeru, the biggest obstacle in Hinata’s life, was dead.

      “Oh.”

      “Oh?” Terushima turned to face Hinata, the disbelief evident on his face. “You say that like you’re disappointed.”

      “Well… I don’t really know how to feel…”

      Hinata stared at the screen, where he could currently see paramedics hurrying out of the SHU with a body bag on a stretcher. It didn’t take a genius to work out whose body it was inside the bag. Even so, Hinata didn’t believe it. People like Takeru didn’t die. He could hear Takeru even now, hear his taunts at the back of his mind.

      “He’s dead! You should be jumping for joy!”

      “He’s not dead. People can only die when they’re not remembered,” Hinata said, still staring at the TV screen. “So, right now, he’s more alive than he’s ever been…”

      “So, are you disappointed?” Terushima was still confused by Hinata’s words.

      “Well… I don’t know. Honestly, I think… I just want to be alone right now.”

      Hinata left the room with another word, not quite sure why he felt so hollow on the inside. It was as if Takeru had torn him apart from the inside and stripped him of his soul beneath the grave. Takeru’s death should have liberated Hinata. But, he could only feel the shackles around his wrists and ankles tightening.

      How could Hinata feel liberated when Takeru had turned his body into a jail?

***

      “Keishin,” Suga said, tightly wrapping his arms around the blonde. “It’s so great to see you. Ugh, you have no idea how badly I’ve wanted to touch you.”

      It was Saturday, aka visitation day. Before, they’d been unable to touch one another since they’d been trapped behind the glass. But, thanks to the intervention of Kageyama, Aida had decided to create a separate visitation room where certain inmates would be allowed to see their visitors face-to-face. Inmates considered to be ‘high risk’ would only be allowed visitors from behind the glass, but Suga wasn’t high-risk. Therefore, he was finally being allowed to touch Keishin for the first time in months.

      “Suga,” he murmured, tightening his grip on the grey-haired man. “Your hair smells nice.”

      “Well, I knew you’d be coming today. I have to smell nice, right?”

      Keishin chuckled, placing a kiss on Suga’s forehead before going to sit down at last. Suga sat down opposite Keishin, noting all the subtle changes about him. His hair had grown out a little. He still kept it back with his headband. He had a small ear ring in his left ear. His stubble had grown out a little. Hell, he’d even started wearing lip balm.

      “Did something happen to that phone you had?”

      Suga frowned. “Yeah. It was confiscated. I traded so much for that phone, you know? I wanted to fight that C.O. so badly.”

      “Well, it’s okay.” Keishin slid his hand out to meet Suga’s, still giving Suga that look that made him feel as if he were the only man in the world. “I’ll try and come down from Sagamihara more often to visit you, alright? I promise.”

      “Oh, yeah! You moved to Sagamihara, didn’t you? How’s it going?”

      “Great. I finally got myself a stable job. I tried out construction for a few months, but I kept getting injuries. I ended up having to quit, so I was kind of lost for a bit. Then, I finally found a pretty good gym to work at. Pay’s pretty good. It’s a gym which has different branches all over Japan. There’s even one in Tokyo. So, if I keep the hard work up, I might move back into Tokyo and work there if I get offered a chance.”

      “That’s great,” Suga said, tightening his grip on Keishin’s hand. “I’m so proud of you.”

      “Yeah.” Keishin smiled, allowing himself to take in the sight of proud Suga for a few moments before asking him a question. “How are things down here?”

      “You’ve been following the news, right?”

      “Yeah. Nakashima Takeru…”

      “That asshole’s finally dead. They were exchanging stories about him in the rec room this morning, talking about the things he made people do. Apparently, he made this one guy in the Mukankei go to electrical with him after he refused to join Takeru’s prison gang. Then, he made the guy swallow a live rat and fucked his throat right after so that the rat wouldn’t die in there—”

      “Suga, I don’t think the prison would appreciate it if you made me throw up all over the table.” Keishin was shuddering at the mere thought of it. He knew that Nakashima Takeru had been a little messed up in the head, but Jesus…

      “Sorry, sorry,” Suga said, ruffling Keishin’s hair with his free hand. “But yeah, you get the point. Takeru’s all everyone’s been talking about ever since the news on the TV this morning. They’ve called him the worst criminal in Japan’s history. The evillest criminal there is. Usually, most criminals have something redeemable about them, some sort of soft spot, like me,” Suga said, putting both hands under his chin and grinning with a tilted head, “but Takeru was all evil. I’ll never understand how he ended up in a minimum security prison like this. I don’t even understand why they want to gather gang members in one prison. It was bound to be a recipe for trouble from the start. It’s basically just reinforcing the gang mentality, but on an even bigger scale. Rather than there being a gang of five, it turns to a gang of five hundred that can be manipulated at will.”

      Keishin nodded. “That’s quite perceptive of you.”

      “Just something I’ve been thinking about. I mean, I technically benefit from this structure ‘cause you know, I’m Tobio’s right-hand man, but it’s still something that I think about a lot. I mean, if I ever get out of this place… I’d want to be like a counsellor, but not a pompous asshole like Oikawa. I’ll admit, he’s good at what he does, but… yeah. I don’t know. Just something I was thinking about. Like, you know, the Takeru drama could’ve been avoided if it wasn’t for the rule that all gang members have to go to this prison specifically. Like, why? It’s so stupid…”

      “I’ll admit, when I was here, I had the same thought. It never made sense to me,” Keishin admitted, thinking back to his days as a CO. They’d been eventful, especially with Suga, but when he hadn’t been with Suga, he’d been dealing with riots and handling general prison drama. He already knew from stories that Fukurodani experienced much more violence and drama than the average Japanese prison — after all, more conventional prisons were known for being a lot more disciplined — but he’d been taken aback entirely by just how much these inmates could get away with. Suga was lucky enough to be the inmate that most people liked and admired, but even so, Keishin still worried about Suga. A lot.

      “But, moving on, Takeru,” Keishin said, not wanting to dwell on the topic of the legal system, “I hear he was trying to overthrow Kageyama. At least, according to Ushijima.”

      Suga shuddered. “Yeah. It was a mess. People kept trying to kill Takeru but he just wouldn’t die. He kept on surviving.” A mischievous expression phased its way onto Suga’s face as he leaned in, continuing to speak in his ‘ghost story’ voice. “I won’t be surprised if it turns out that Takeru’s faking his death so that he can keep on making people’s lives hell. Actually… maybe there’s nothing inside the body bag. Maybe he’s hiding somewhere, planning to kill the same people who tried to kill him…”

      “Suga.”

      “Fine, fine. I’m scaring you.” Suga grinned cheekily, tweaking Keishin’s nose. “I’ll tell you something nice. Yesterday, at dinner, everyone was singing songs. Shiratorizawa were even dancing. The C.Os tried to stop us, but all the muscular people in the Mukankei grabbed them and forced them to dance. They took their batons and some people started doing juggling and acrobatic stunts with them. Afterwards, we had a massive food fight. Towada came in with some reinforcements and forced us all to stop. Loads of people got shots. Some got sent to the SHU this morning. That wasn’t too fun. But everything before that was!”

      Keishin smiled, happy to know that Suga seemed to be doing well. He wasn’t too sure about the state of the prison. It was just about managing to stay upright on its foundation, but he couldn’t help but wonder how long it would be before things began to collapse on themselves.

      “Oh, I almost forgot to say! It was my birthday recently! There was so much going on that I kind of forgot that I even had a birthday…”

      At this, Keishin gave Suga a look of disbelief. “Are you for real? When was it?”

      “June 13th. Eleven days ago.”

      Keishin sighed. “Damnit, Suga. I feel bad now.”

      “Hey, no! It’s fine. Just kiss me extra hard before you leave,” Suga said, winking after his sentence. “You don’t need to give me anything.”

      “No. I want to give you something,” Keishin insisted. “What about… I know. I’ll give you a promise.”

      “What kind of promise?”

      “When you get out of here,” Keishin said, “I’ll take you to the best restaurant there is. We’ll eat the best food they have. Drink the best wine they serve. And then, we’ll go to my apartment. I’ll replace the covers with silk. I’ll treat you like a prince. And,” he said, leaning in closer, “I’ll make love to you all night.”

      “I have no complaints,” Suga responded, leaning in Keishin’s direction as well. “Let me warn you, though. If you’re thinking about kissing me now, don’t. We’re only allowed to kiss once. Any more than that and the C.Os will get pissy about it.”

      “Let them get pissy.”

      Keishin closed the gap between them, securing his lips to Suga’s at last. He was surprised when he tasted cigarettes on Suga’s breath, pulling away before Suga could make a move to deepen the kiss. “Wait. Suga, did you start smoking?”

      “Oh… well, yeah. It’s more of a stress reliever than anything else.”

      Keishin frowned. “What’s happening? If you’re that stressed…”

      “I don’t know. There’s just been a lot of tension between Karasuno and Nekoma recently. Smoking takes my mind off it,” Suga said. “Don’t get me wrong. Cigarettes are gross. But something about it is kind of relaxing, I guess.”

      “I’m still trying to quit,” Keishin reminded Suga. “It’s been seven months.”

      “Sorry. It’s probably inconsiderate of me. I’m the one who told you to quit in the first place.” Suga heaved out a sigh. “I’ll quit soon, I promise. By the time my sentence is over, I won’t even know what a cigarette looks like.”

      Keishin laughed. “Hey, it’s alright. Do what will help these years go by for you.”

      “Thanks, Keishin.” Suga leaned in and kissed him, on the cheek this time, before whispering one thing in his ear. “I love you.”

***

      Towada had been making his way out of his office and over to Aida’s office, planning to ask her if she wanted to eat lunch with him, only for Kageyama to not-so-accidentally barge into him. The papers in Towada’s hands fell to the ground, much to the C.O’s dismay.

      “Shit, sorry. I didn’t mean to do that. Let me help you with those,” Kageyama said, getting on the ground with Towada as well. Towada, along with his papers, had fallen from being bumped into by Kageyama. How that had happened, considering that Towada’s body weight was at least double Kageyama’s, Towada didn’t know, but it had happened.

      Once they were on the ground, Kageyama began to hiss instructions at Towada. “Slip me the phone I asked for. If you say you haven’t got it, I’ll make sure you regret it.”

      Kageyama had strategically chosen to bump Towada in the cameras’ blind spot. They’d fallen, and now there was nothing or no-one that could witness the swap. All the inmates were in the cafeteria, and the C.Os were scattered around the inmate-heavy areas. This, unfortunately enough for Towada, wasn’t one of them.

      “Can’t… can’t we do it in my office?”

      Kageyama let out a snort of laughter. “Yeah, because there’s definitely no cameras in there. Seriously, how stupid do I look? Give me the phone.”

      With no options left, Towada surreptitiously pulled the phone out from his pocket and passed it to Kageyama, who quickly pocketed the device.

      “Now, you’re going to make sure those cameras are gone by the start of July. The only thing that they’re going to catch on those cameras is you jerking off at your desk to Facebook pictures of your boss like some sort of degenerate. Trust me, I can kill you whether there’s cameras or not.”

      Before Towada could even say anything, Kageyama had gathered up the papers and was now back on his feet once again, wearing the same impassive expression on his face. Towada followed his lead, taking the papers out of Kageyama’s hands.

      “T—Thanks,” Towada said at last, although he would’ve rather done anything but thank Kageyama. It was moments like this when he was cruelly reminded about just how monstrous Kageyama was. Towada wasn’t quite sure what Kageyama made him feel. It wasn’t just abhorrence. It was hate, fear, and a weird sense of awe. That was how most people would describe it.

      “It was nothing.”

      Towada turned and saw Aida, who was making her way down the corridor. He was about to call out to her and ask if she wanted to eat lunch, but Kageyama was already walking towards her with a calm expression on his face. He looked over at Towada for a split second, a smirk on his face, before turning his attention to Aida once again, who had slowed down upon spotting Kageyama.

      “Hey, Aida. I wanted to discuss the commissary situation with you. Are you free to speak?”

      “Go ahead. We’ll walk and talk,” Aida said, holding out a pack of biscuits to Kageyama. “Want one?”

      “Sure,” Kageyama said, taking one out of the packet. “Custard creams are my favourite. My mother was very fond of them.”

      “Likewise.” Aida smiled. “My mother came by this weekend and brought custard creams, boxed miso soup and relationship problems with her. It was quite the visit.” The two laughed before disappearing through a set of double doors, leaving Towada on his own. For once, the problem wasn’t that he’d pissed himself. The problem was that he was pissed off. That split-second smirk from Kageyama had told him everything he needed to know. He’d caught Aida’s attention on purpose.

      For God’s sake, Kageyama wasn’t even attracted to women.

      Why couldn’t he let Towada have his chance with Aida, damnit?

      “Asshole!”

      Towada threw his sheets to the floor once again and stamped on them, frustrated that Kageyama had so much power over him. This entire ordeal was ridiculous. The fact that Kageyama even had this much power was ridiculous. And the fact that Aida was talking to Kageyama of all people about her family was ridiculous! Weren’t they meant to hate each other?

      Towada reached into his pocket, although he was surprised when he felt a small sheet of paper. Kageyama must’ve slipped it in when he wasn’t looking.

      “That asshole,” Towada muttered as he pulled the sheet of paper out from his pocket and unfolded it. He gasped when he saw what was written on it.

      **Kill Aida, and make it look like an accident. Since you’re a dog that can betray Sanada Shunpei, a man who loved you more than anything, surely you can betray your boss. If it’s not done by October 1 st,**

**I’ll kill you. And I’ll make it look like an accident.**

      It wasn’t Kageyama’s handwriting. It was likely that he’d used his non-dominant hand to write it, since Towada doubted that there were people in Karasuno who knew exactly what Kageyama was doing. Sure, Karasuno had its fair share of assholes, but Kageyama was the biggest of them all. There was no way that Karasuno would let Kageyama treat him like this if they knew what was going on. But, it wasn’t like he’d be able to tell Karasuno what was happening without any consequence. Even if they didn’t know, Towada hadn’t been too kind towards them in the past. There was no way that Karasuno would go against their boss just to help him.

      “I hate my life,” Towada muttered at last, bending down and picking up his papers from the floor. He’d even accidentally trampled on his own lunch, which meant he’d be eating squashed sandwiches and a mushy banana. For the first time, Towada actually found himself agreeing with Kageyama’s assessment of him.

      “Tch,” he muttered, inspecting the squashed contents of his lunch. “I really am a dog, huh?”


	18. Sentiments and Shitty Feelings

Chapter Eighteen: Sentiments and Shitty Feelings

      That same day, Hinata had been called down to medical since Takeda had come back from his sick leave at last. They’d paid a specialist named Naoi Manabu to come in and speak to Hinata properly, giving him psychological assessments and asking questions about his childhood. It had taken Hinata a while to actually start speaking about what Takeru did to him and how they met, but without Takeru’s presence hanging over his shoulder, it became a lot easier. It was when Oikawa came in and showed Hinata a funny meme that he finally found it in him to grace Oikawa with a half-hearted grin, telling Oikawa that he could relate to the meme. After that, Naoi had been able to start giving Hinata the help he needed, thankfully without having to go to Aoba Johsai.

      “It would’ve been too drastic of a move,” Naoi had said to Takeda, “although if Hinata’s ‘quiet moods’ persist, then we’ll have to consider it in the future.”

      They’d promptly got Hinata on a new course of medication, which made it a lot easier for him to block out the past memories. It frustrated Hinata, frustrated him that Takeru had tainted so many memories that he wanted to treasure as good ones, but when Hinata had expressed that sentiment to the specialist, he’d simply smiled and said that Hinata had a lot of time to create new memories.

      Even so, Hinata found it hard to be optimistic. It was easy for him to enjoy himself, easy for him to pretend that he felt alright, but he really just wanted to isolate himself from everyone. He felt dirty. He felt like a villain. No amount of pills could get rid of the blood on his hands. No amount of pills could stop him from waking up at night in a cold sweat, waking up to the realisation that he’d been screaming so loud that he’d woken himself up. Every time that happened, Hinata would think back to the notebook. He had read each page so many times that he could recite them by memory. The passage that always came to mind was the one where Kageyama made a list of fifteen reasons why he couldn’t love Hinata. The one that stuck out in his mind was number four, where Kageyama said that he was barely holding onto his sanity, that he always saw his mother’s face whenever he tried to sleep. Hinata understood now, he understood more than ever.

      Hinata could still hear Takeru’s voice in his head. It was loud. Imposing.

      He opened his eyes in a desperate bid to escape the insults, but was greeted by a dead end. A dead end that most people knew as darkness.

      Darkness was a place that bred hate.

      But he was meant to be the light that shunned it away.

      His thoughts came to a halt when he heard a loud bang. He sat up in his hospital bed almost instantly, eyes darting back and forth as he clutched his covers to his chin. He knew it was nonsensical, but part of him was prepared to see Takeru walking through the door with some sort of gnarly weapon, announcing that he hadn’t died and that he was going to make Hinata’s life hell.

      Instead, it was Terushima who walked into the room, holding a bar of milk chocolate in his hand. Hinata allowed himself to relax, but only slightly.

      “Hey, Hinata.” He tip-toed forwards comically before coming to a stop, getting down on his knees so that he was just about level with the bed. “I figured you’d be getting lonely in here. You know, no weed. No _Uno_. No manga. So, the great Terushima has come to amuse you! When they letting you out of here?”

      “I get discharged later on this evening,” Hinata said, taking the chocolate bar out of Terushima’s hands. “They just want to do a physical exam on me. I’ll have to wait for them to analyse the results and stuff. Once they think everything’s alright, I’m free to go.”

      “That’s great,” Terushima said, grinning. “I’ve been keeping your _Uno_ throne warm… although, I’m not sure if I want to get off it now…”

      Much to Terushima’s dismay, Hinata’s win streak in _Uno_ had surpassed his. He’d won a shocking one hundred and twenty-three games, while Terushima was second at one hundred and three. (It could be said that the shocking thing was that they’d played over two hundred games together, but it was normal for the whole dorm to play well into the early hours of the morning.)

      While Terushima battled with his brain to reassure himself that he could take his throne back, Hinata looked down at the bar of chocolate, trying to decide whether he should eat it or not. Even despite the fact that his cravings were niggling at him, he shook his head and handed it back to Terushima.

      “It’s cool,” Hinata said, completely disregarding Terushima’s statement about _Uno_. In all honesty, Hinata hadn’t even heard him. He’d been slightly too fixated on the bar of chocolate. “I’ll save it for one of my lower moments.”

      “You sure?” Terushima raised an eyebrow. “I’m always willing to get you more chocolate. Plus… you know. You don’t have to pretend to be happy.”

      Hinata was shocked when Terushima hugged him all of a sudden, so shocked he began to struggle. Terushima quickly withdrew his arms, offering Hinata a profuse amount of apologies. Hinata froze, realising what he’d just done. Terushima had attempted to comfort him, and he’d pushed him off as if he were some sort of leech.

      What the hell?

      Why had he just done that to Terushima of all people? His best friend?

      “…I totally didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable or anything, I’m so sorry!” Terushima was still burbling out apologies at an alarmingly quick rate, leading Hinata to hold up both hands to quieten the blonde down. Terushima was always so loud. Whether it was day or night, he was bound to be yelling about something.

      “Don’t sweat it.”

      After a brief silence, Terushima held up the chocolate bar once again. “Are you sure you don’t want to open it? The contents will cheer you up. That’s a promise. They won’t cheer your dentist up though,” he joked.

      “I’m sure. I’d rather share it with the others when I get back to the dorm.”

      Terushima grinned. “Alright, then. You want me to put this in your possession box?”

      Hinata nodded. “Yeah. I should be back in the dorm tonight, but if not, I’ll be back by tomorrow morning.”

      “Sure thing. Also, tomorrow morning, make sure you’re up at the usual time. I want to talk to you about something,” Terushima said. “We’ll go outside, if that’s alright with you. It’s been a while since we lit up together.”

      “Oh, yeah. I really could use a hit after all this time lying here…”

      Terushima snorted. “Calm down, soldier. It hasn’t even been twenty-four hours since you came in here.” He watched carefully, making sure that Hinata was still up for some light teasing. The smirk that appeared on Hinata’s face told Terushima that he would be alright. Not now, but soon. Hopefully.

      “Yet, you’re already checking up on me like you’re my mother.”

      “Of course. Mother Yuuji, at your duty!”

      He mock-saluted, grinning when he managed to elicit a giggle from Hinata. “Hey, what’s your favourite colour? I need to start thinking about Christmas gifts.”

      “It’s nowhere near December, Terushima.”

      When Terushima just grinned at him without speaking, Hinata gave in. “Fine. It’s blue.”

      “I’ll get you a brand new pipe for Christmas. Baby blue. How’s that sound?”

      “That sounds nice.” Hinata couldn’t help but smile this time. “Yeah.”

      But as soon as he smiled, there were voices in his head, telling him that he had no right to sit with his friends and have fun lighting up.

      _Not after the things you’ve done._

_You took a man away from his family, Hinata._

      _What makes you think that you deserve to go and have fun?_

      _You’re vile. Evil. Like Takeru said. You’re trash_.

      “Hey. I’m over here,” Terushima said, giving Hinata a playful wave. Hinata lowered his head once in apology and turned his attention onto Terushima, although it was becoming harder and harder for him to focus on the conversation. “Lie down, alright? You’re tired. Let me guess, it’s hard for you to sleep.”

      Before Hinata could nod in response, Terushima was already speaking once again. “Well, let Mother Yuuji rock you to sleep. Metaphorically, of course. I don’t plan on leaving until I tell you the story about the time my actual mother caught me reading some pretty steamy doujin at a funeral.”

      “At a funeral?” Hinata let out a snort of laughter, even though he knew it was wrong. His voice was heavy with fatigue. “Terushima, you’re so bad…”

      “Shh, shh, focus on sleeping. Just focus on the lull of my voice,” he said, his tone jokey. “So, it was the funeral of one of my mom’s brother’s school friends. A beautiful winter in the month of December. To be honest, my mom just wanted the free food, so she dragged me and my brother along. They were just going on and on, so I decided to pull out one of my favourite doujins—”

      “Terushima, why were you carrying doujins on you in the first place?”

      “Why not? Is that weird?”

      Hinata laughed once more, eyes crinkling together as he let out yet another statement. “I’m guessing you didn’t have many friends in grade school.”

      “Actually… it was during high school…”

      “That’s even worse!” Hinata was full-on laughing now, peals of laughter slipping out from his lips as he pointed a finger at Terushima. “No wonder Bobata always roasts you—”

      “Oh, come on,” Terushima said, folding his arms in indignation. “I’m such a cool guy. I don’t deserve to be roasted. Besides, how can I be roasted when I’m already hot? Hmm?”

      Hinata, now recovering from his laughing fit, opened his eyes to inspect the pouty-looking Terushima. Terushima, realising that Hinata was checking him out, felt his cheeks beginning to flush a mellow shade of pink. He knew it didn’t mean anything, and yet, his body was still reacting as if it had meant something. Stupid heart. Why couldn’t it just abide by logic?

      “You’re just a really roastable person,” Hinata said at last, shrugging his shoulders. “I don’t know what it is about you. It’s like… you’re a walking joke? But not in a mean way! It’s just… uh…” It was Hinata’s turn to flush bright red, although it wasn’t for the same reason as Terushima. It was more at the prospect that he might’ve accidentally just insulted his best friend in a really mean way.

      “I’m offended, Hinata,” Terushima said, although he couldn’t help but let out a laugh. “I’m genuinely offended.”

      “Are you actually?”

      “Nah, I’m kidding.” He grinned to prove that point, reaching out to twiddle Hinata’s nose between his thumb and forefinger. He couldn’t help himself, not when Hinata scrunched his nose up in that adorable little confused expression of his. “I’ve been called worse than a joke.”

      “Well, you’re not. A joke, I mean. You’re not. You set yourself up for all the roasts we make for you though, Metalshima—”

      “Fine! If I’m Metalshima, you’re… Hellnata.”

      “No, I’m Little Giant Nata!”

      Terushima raised an eyebrow quizzically. “I’m pretty sure that’s not how it works…”

      “Don’t care,” Hinata said, lying back down on the bed with a decisive thump. “Just so you know, you’re terrible at rocking me to sleep. I feel even more awake now.” Granted, it was his own fault for interrupting Terushima’s story, but Hinata knew just how unbelievably wild Terushima could be. The story might’ve made Hinata feel a lot of things. Surprise, humour, and shock to name a few — but fatigue would be nowhere to be found.

      “Mother Yuuji failed, I know,” Terushima said, shrugging his shoulders. “I can’t really help in the sleep department. I’ve always been able to sleep like a little baby. I just put my head down, and presto, I’m dreaming about what it would be like to live life as a free man. You know… if I ever do get out of here, I’d like to go home. See my mother. Talk to her properly. Revisit my childhood. That kind of stuff. Oh, I’d get a proper job too. Working nine to five. Maybe I’d sling dope on the side, but just to friends and that, you know.”

      Hinata was able to spare a small smile at Terushima’s intentions. He was turning a leaf in his own unique way, and Hinata was definitely here for it. “I don’t see myself getting out of here. I’m never getting on a volleyball team again, and that’s the only thing I can do without fucking up. And even then, I always missed my serves. But… I just wish I could go back to my childhood. Things were easier then.”

      Terushima chuckled. “Man, don’t we all. Childhood. Before our minds became corrupted and shit by the world around us, we were all just kids. And… you know, that’s pure. I miss it.”

      “When I was young, like seven or six, I never used to be able to sleep. My mom, she knew that. So, she’d come into my room around eleven p.m. with some hot milk, and she’d rub my head until I fell asleep. I don’t know why, but I’m remembering that right now.” Hinata relaxed into the mattress at the memory, as stiff as this mattress was, imagining that it was his childhood bed. The duvet cover had been a volleyball pattern, and his pillows had been volleyball shaped. He’d even had a volleyball lying next to him, a Mikasa volleyball. Man, did he miss volleyball…

      “Were you scared of the dark?”

      “No, not really. It was just that all I ever did was play volleyball and at night, I’d just be itching to get up and spike some balls and score points. At the time, I wasn’t on a team, but I’d practice with everyone I could. My friends on the basketball team. In hallways. Outside. And, the feeling of holding a volleyball in my hands couldn’t compare to anything else,” Hinata said, replicating the shape with his hands. “I craved that feeling, every day and every night. I still do sometimes.”

      “You make volleyball sound pretty awesome,” Terushima said, placing a hand on Hinata’s head. When Hinata shifted his neck to make it easier for Terushima to reach, the blonde took it as a sign to go ahead. “Your hair’s really soft, you know…”

      “Everyone tells me that,” Hinata muttered, although his voice was becoming heavy with sleep. His eyes had also drifted shut, although he was still making a concentrated effort to speak. “Kageyama’s the worst about it. Touches my hair every damn second. You know, I bet he’s the reason my hair always gets so tangled. He can’t keep his hands off me…”

      And yet again, Terushima was reminded that Hinata would never be his. Hinata had already fallen asleep, by the looks of it, but Terushima couldn’t quite bring himself to remove his hand from Hinata’s head. Hinata, with that serene, peaceful expression on his face as his lips parted to let out small sighs every now and again. Hinata, his bright hair falling against his pale skin as he twisted his head to the side. Terushima’s knees were sore from kneeling for so long and his toes had gone numb, but he still couldn’t move. Moving would mean that he was over Hinata.

      And Jesus H. Christ, Terushima really wished that was the case.

      Stupid fucking Kageyama. What the hell made him so great? He was just an asshole. What could Hinata possibly see in a man like that? Then again… Terushima had initially been a bit of an asshole, and Hinata had still seen something in him. Then again, Terushima wasn’t a murderer. Kageyama was! He’d killed hundreds!

      “Ow…”

      Terushima looked down, shocked when he realised that Hinata was wincing in his sleep. His gaze quickly darted to Hinata’s hair, which Terushima was currently grasping harder than necessary.

      “Shit,” Terushima said, quickly releasing Hinata’s hair and pulling his hand to his chest, his breath catching in his throat. He’d gotten so worked up that he’d hurt Hinata, for God's sake. It looked like Hinata was still asleep (thank God) but that didn’t do much to alleviate Terushima’s guilt at what he’d just done.

      “Shit,” he repeated more emphatically, realising that his emotions would only become more of a jumble if he stayed here. He turned away from Hinata’s sleeping body, fighting the urge to pull up a nearby chair and stay there by his side, and forced himself out of the room. Step by step, he forced himself away from Hinata, reminding himself that he’d only get hurt in the end.

      Terushima was shocked when he bumped into someone on his way out, his mind instantly darting to the possibility of it being a jealous Kageyama who was ready to torture him using a hundred and one methods. However, when he saw the glint of glasses in the dim lighting, his heartbeat began to calm down. It was just Takeda, offering him a kind smile. Honestly, this guy never seemed to go home. He might as well have been living in medical.

      “Terushima-kun, you really need to learn to control your voice. I could hear you from a mile away,” he said, chuckling as he went into medical. Terushima was slightly shocked that Takeda wasn’t scolding him for sneaking into medical without permission, but he didn’t choose to dwell on his shock. Instead, Terushima walked away, trying to figure out just how longer he could go on feeling like this before it began to destroy his friendship with Hinata.

***

      Come Monday morning, Hinata and Terushima were standing outside together, having chosen a quiet area where C.Os were unlikely to disturb them. They were passing a blunt, since the both of them felt like unwinding after the events of last week. Besides, Terushima had said that he wanted to talk to Hinata. While walking over there, they’d encountered Kageyama and Hinata had waved, but Kageyama had been looking too perplexed to wave back. Hinata was hoping that it wasn’t because Kageyama was jealous. Hinata had learnt that jealousy was a dangerous emotion, thanks to a certain ex, so he always did his best to try and avoid it.

      “You weren’t in medical last night,” Terushima said at last after having taken a long puff from the blunt. The smoke wavered into the air, which was still cloudy. He couldn’t remember the last time there’d been a sunny day in Tokyo.

      “Oh, yeah.” Hinata took the blunt from Terushima’s hand before explaining the reason for his absence. “I spent the night with Kageyama.”

      Around seven p.m. last night, most likely after dinner, Kageyama had popped down to medical, inquired about Takeda’s health and then offered to stay with Hinata until the evaluation was over. Once it was done and dusted, Kageyama had asked Hinata if he wanted to stay with him for the night. Hinata had accepted, mainly because Kageyama had looked so damn adorable with that dark blush on his face.

      They weren’t quite at the stage where they’d sleep in the same bed, but Kageyama had allowed Hinata to lie down on his bed with him for a bit. He’d even hugged Hinata at one point when he noticed that Hinata was looking a bit sad about the evaluation. They hadn’t really spoken about the evaluation. He’d just been there for Hinata, and that was all he’d needed. Not to mention, he’d even told Hinata about the funny things he’d done to Towada. He was careful not to mention anything ‘top secret’ though. Kageyama had just wanted to amuse Hinata with some tame dog stories, and they’d worked. Hinata had laughed quite a bit and even made requests as to what Kageyama could get Towada to do. Hinata had suggested that Kageyama pay Towada to give himself a haircut while blindfolded. Kageyama had laughed and said “maybe”, but in his head, he knew that he wouldn’t have to pay Towada a dime to cut his own hair off. He’d just have to step into Towada’s field of vision and the damn dog would be reaching for the scissors and asking how much to cut off.

      Come morning, it had been time for Hinata to leave Kageyama’s room. He’d been sad to leave, but since he had count soon, he’d had no choice but to leave. When Hinata walked through the corridors on that day, it was with a sunny smile on his face. Even despite his exhaustion from not sleeping that night (Kageyama and Hinata had been speaking for hours and hours) he couldn’t help but feel happy. Kageyama had even kissed him on the forehead before he’d left, informing Hinata that he’d drop by the Johzenji dorm sometime soon. With everything going on, Hinata hadn’t really had much time to think about Takeru. It felt nice to be able to focus on other things. His friendships, his budding love life, and his sentence. Day by day, it was getting lower. One day closer to escaping, one day closer to seeing the sun.

      “Kageyama,” Terushima said at last. “So… you like him.”

      “Like isn’t strong enough. I think I love him. He always makes my heart feel so fuzzy and warm… and he always shows off this cold, dark side of him to everyone else but in reality, he’s a really complex person with a lot of emotions and he just… I just… I can’t stop thinking about him.” Hinata’s cheeks flushed a dark red as he found himself thinking back to how Kageyama had kissed his forehead earlier. If he thought really hard, he could still feel Kageyama’s lips. Warm, ever-so-slightly chapped and pleasant to the touch. Hinata was so fixated on the memory that he didn’t realise how Terushima’s facial expression was morphing into something more and more resentful as he continued to speak.

      “It’s the same on his side, I guess.” Hinata took another puff of his blunt before continuing. “We agreed to try the whole relationship thing out again, but we’re taking it at our own pace. Oh, by the way, I know I already thanked you, but thanks for the haircut. Like, seriously. Thank you. Kageyama spent ages rubbing my head yesterday when we were lying down. He’s honestly so good with his hands… like, he’d make the perfect setter. I just know it. He’d be unstoppable on the court…”

      Terushima knew that he should’ve been happy for Hinata, should’ve been happy that his relationship with Kageyama was back on track, but he couldn’t be happy. He just… couldn’t. Hinata seemed to notice this.

      “Sorry,” he said at last, passing the blunt over to Terushima. “I know you guys don’t have a good history and all. But he actually mentioned you guys, and he said that he’d like to apologise for it and stuff! You know, start a new path and all…”

      “Hinata,” Terushima said once he’d taken a long drag from the blunt, “it’s really not that easy.”

      “Sure it is! Kageyama’s difficult and annoying, but he can sometimes be reasonable. This is one of those times. He’s busy with trying to reform the prison and stuff right now, but once his schedule clears up, I’m sure he’ll try and patch things up with you guys!”

      Kageyama had divulged a little about his plans for the prison last night. He hadn’t said too much, but what he had said had sounded pretty impressive. Kageyama wanted to start up education programs that would make it easier for well-meaning people to get good jobs once they got out of the prison. Apparently, Yamaguchi had been the one to push that idea in Kageyama’s direction. Yamaguchi and Kenma also wanted new books in the library. Right now, Kageyama was beginning to make himself a little more popular with people in the prison. There was no denying that he was still hated by many due to his unsympathetic reign and the privileges he lorded over everyone, but Hinata could see that Kageyama truly was doing his best to change his ways.

      “Hey, pass it over here. You’re hogging it,” Hinata scolded.

      Terushima handed the blunt to Hinata, who promptly placed it to his lips and took a deep drag.

      “Hinata, I know your intentions are good. But it’s not as simple as sitting down and deciding to bury the past. That asshole’s done too much to us for me to just do that. I’m not telling you that it’s impossible. But please, just don’t force anything.”

      “I’m not trying to force anything,” Hinata insisted. “I’m just saying, if Kageyama can be reasonable about it then why can’t you?”

      “Kageyama and reasonable?” Terushima let out a derisive snort. “You’ve got the wrong guy there, Hinata. I’m pretty sure him setting up one of our guys to go to max isn’t what you’d call reasonable.”

      “Well, you jumped Kageyama. You had a crew of fifteen people and he was on his own. He almost died,” Hinata reminded Terushima. “He spent weeks in medical. He should be angry, but he’s willing to patch things up with you guys! He’s grown ever since the first time you guys met, alright? Why can’t you just consider it?”

      “Hinata, it’s not your place to tell us what we should consider,” Terushima said at last, too irritated to continue smoking the blunt. He threw it in a nearby trash can before turning his attention back to Hinata. “Kageyama’s an asshole. That’s my honest opinion. The Johzenji don’t associate with assholes. If you want to, then that’s your choice. But I don’t want to.”

      “People change, Terushima! You should know that better than anyone else!”

      “Not him,” Terushima snapped. “Not him.”

      “For God’s sake, Terushima. You’re not usually so difficult,” Hinata exclaimed at last. “Why? What is it about him that you don’t like, dang it?”

      “I just don’t like him! Do I need a reason to hate someone?!”

      “Yes! You do, actually!”

      “Alright, fine,” Terushima said, his irritation reaching record levels as he began to count off the reasons on his fingers. “First of all, the asshole choked me on my first day here. Almost fucking killed me. So, he deserved to get jumped.”

      “But he said you were provoking him—”

      “Second of all,” Terushima continued, not giving Hinata a chance to speak, “he set up Izaki to go to max. Not to mention, one of his story guys started telling Shiratorizawa fairy tales about how we ‘prey on the newcomers of the prison’. We’ve never once done that! Commented on them, yes, but we don’t ‘lead them into the Johzenji bathroom and force them to have orgies’ like his story guy told Shiratorizawa. Fucking asshole.”

      Hinata already knew that Kageyama’s ‘story guy’ was Ennoshita. And, while Hinata was willing to defend Kageyama, Ennoshita was a whole different topic. Hinata didn’t condone the kind of harmful gossip that Ennoshita partook in. But, even so, Terushima couldn’t blame Kageyama for Ennoshita’s actions, could he?

      “Not to mention,” Terushima continued, “he’s the most untrustworthy person there is! He abandoned his team on the outside and let them all get caught so that he could escape. He ended up getting caught himself a few weeks later. He’s trash—”

      “He is not trash, alright?! He’s the reason Takeru’s gone!”

      “Oh, so now that’s a positive for you? I still remember your reaction when you saw the headline,” Terushima exclaimed, unable to believe what he was hearing. “It was almost like you didn’t want him to die. But now because you know Kageyama did it it’s the best thing ever—”

      “That’s not it, damnit! You wouldn’t get it!”

      “Listen,” Hinata said at last. “I don’t want to argue with you about Kageyama. But… all I can tell you is that he’s not the man you think he is. He’s a good person who went through some bad shit. That’s all it is.”

      Terushima scoffed. “I can’t believe you’re being serious right now. It’s one thing to basically ignore everything he did to me, but completely another to write him off as being a good person. There’s not an inch of good in that man.”

      “Really? If that’s the truth, then why is he trying so hard to start education programs for everyone? Why is he improving visitation for everyone? Why is he trying to make provisions for more futons in the Mukankei dorms? It’s because he’s trying to improve himself. He knows that he’s done bad things and he’s learning.” Terushima was trying to interrupt, but Hinata wasn’t having it. “You can’t hold the past against him. I mean… I ratted out his guys. They went to the SHU. He could’ve easily held that against me. But, he blamed himself for it. Not me. Himself.”

      “Hinata, you ever heard of Stockholm Syndrome?” When Hinata shook his head, not quite understanding the sudden change in topic, Terushima continued. “Well, it’s when a victim falls in love with their captor. Right now, you’re looking more and more like a victim to me.”

      “We’re in prison, for God’s sake. How can he be my captor?”

      “You won’t see it yet. Right now, he’s just trying to make himself look like Fukurodani’s saviour so that Aida will forget that she was brought here to get rid of him,” Terushima said, arms folded. “I can read his actions perfectly. He hasn’t changed in the slightest. He’s still a power-starved megalomaniac who’ll crush anyone that gets in his way. Except you. You’re the victim that sits at the centre of the destruction he causes.”

      “For God’s sake, Terushima, I don’t understand why you’re so full of hate! You’re judging him based on year-old perceptions of him! I could easily do the same to you,” Hinata snapped. “I could easily assume that you’re still the same old rapist that you were when you stepped into this prison!”

      A million words ran through Terushima’s head, but the only one that came out was “oh”.

      Oh.

      That was the best way to describe how he felt. Just… oh.

      The pause button on his frustration had been pressed, and now that he was seeing this whole argument from an outside perspective, it was stupid. This was Hinata, a man that Terushima absolutely adored. He adored Hinata more than was healthy. This man had made him realise the error of his ways, this man had inspired him to start moving forwards. And now, he was arguing with Hinata over something that didn’t really matter. As long as Kageyama didn’t go after him, he wasn’t technically a threat. A potential threat, yes, but a current threat?

      “Wait, Terushima,” Hinata said at last, realising that his words might’ve dug just a little too deep. “I don’t think that. I just… it’s an example.”

      “No, it’s fine. You’re right. Maybe I haven’t changed a bit,” Terushima said, forcibly blinking away the tears that were burning deep in the corners of his eyes, “but I’m glad that I didn’t let myself fall too hard for you. There’s no way you’re going to give up on Kageyama. I’m not so stupid that I can’t see that. So, all I can say is have fun with him. I’ll see you later.”

      Terushima turned to walk away, but even now, his steps didn’t quite have the conviction they needed. He was hesitating. Hoping that Hinata would call for him just one more time.

      And thank God, he did.

      Terushima wasn’t sure whether it was a good thing or not when he felt Hinata’s hands grabbing onto him, forcibly turning him around and making him meet that ever-inquisitive gaze. He felt his heart beginning to beat faster, his chest going tight with nerves and his stomach fluttering with all the butterflies. Wait, no. Terushima knew that ‘butterflies’ wasn’t the most accurate term for what was going on inside of him. It felt more like Terushima was experiencing a fireworks show. But instead of watching it, he was the fireworks show. The sparks were travelling up his throat, causing it to go dry and scratchy, and then the smoke was floating into his brain, causing his coherence to… die. That’s what it was. This smoke, it was choking his sensible thoughts and invading deeper and deeper until he was cut off from all thought, all thought except those revolving around Hinata.

      Hinata.

      He’d fucking fallen for Hinata, but Hinata was already in love with another man.

      “Terushima. Wait. What do you mean? Fall too hard for me? Terushima!”

      “Nothing—”

      “What do you mean?” Hinata was staring into Terushima’s eyes with that serious expression of his, eyebrows sloping downwards as those brown eyes of his became glossy with concern. “You’ve been acting weird, damnit. Just tell me. What do you mean?”

      “I like you,” Terushima blurted, his mental filter completely malfunctioning. “Not just platonically. I really like you. I want to brush your hair every morning, listen to you complain about how much you hate it. I want to play _Uno_ with you and watch you do your victory dance every time you beat me. I want to hold you at night, hold you in my arms until you fall asleep. Tell you funny stories when you wake up in a cold sweat, wake up from a nightmare. Sit beside you at breakfast, lunch, dinner, and steal food from your plate whenever it’s nice.”

      Terushima should’ve stopped speaking ages ago, should’ve stopped speaking when Hinata’s facial expression froze in shock, but he physically couldn’t. Now that he’d opened his stupid big mouth, he couldn’t shut it, not until Hinata knew everything that he was thinking. “I want to know how your lips feel. I want to know how your heart feels whenever you’re in love. I want to know you. But, it doesn’t matter.”

      When Terushima turned away that time, Hinata didn’t try to stop him. He couldn’t. He was still trying to process everything that he’d said. Terushima had practically admitted that he was no longer content with just being platonic, the same Terushima who currently seemed to be in some sort of rivalry with none other than Kageyama, Hinata’s love interest.

      “Damnit,” Hinata groaned at last, pressing a hand to his forehead as he knelt down in the grass. “I don’t know what to do anymore.”


	19. An Afternoon with Shiratorizawa

Chapter Nineteen: An Afternoon with Shiratorizawa

      “Alright, Shirabu. What are we going to have on the front cover?”

      Shirabu Kenjirou, the leader of Shiratorizawa, shot a prize-winning grin over in Ennoshita’s direction. “Well, I hear that Towada’s become Kageyama’s bitch. I even saw him carrying a pizza over to the King’s Palace once. We’ll get a picture of Towada, edit a maid outfit on him and caption it… wait for it… ‘TOWADA YOSHIKI: HE’LL GIVE YOU SHOTS (AND HE’LL TAKE CUMSHOTS)’.”

      The ensuing snorts of laughter that came from the other members of Shiratorizawa was answer enough.

      “Draw a dick in the background,” Semi yelled in an attempt to be funny. He didn’t like the fact that Shirabu was getting all the laughs. However, the laughter only died down the second he spoke, prompting Semi to frown at everyone. “You know. A dick. Since Shirabu said that he’ll take cumshots. Get it? You know… heh…”

      Shirabu shook his head. “Semi, just stop. We’re more mature than that.”

      “Don’t act so high and mighty, my little Shiraboo. You’re only 5’8”.” Semi was Shirabu’s right-hand man and secret lover and had been ever since childhood, although he would always deny it if anyone were to ask.

      Shiratorizawa, along with Ennoshita, were all sat in the rec room discussing their prison newsletter. They’d originally wanted to make it a magazine, but they’d eventually reached the conclusion that the prison wouldn’t be able to handle a gossip magazine. So, a newsletter was the next best thing. They hadn’t bothered to consider the fact that no C.O. with a functional brain would even consider letting them publish the things they were writing, let alone distributing them to all the inmates of the prison. It would have to go through a C.O., another C.O. (possibly Towada), a counsellor, Kageyama and lastly Aida before the prison would even begin to consider allowing the Shiratorizawa team to mass-print the newsletter. It would get shot down at the first stage — well, unless Shiratorizawa decided that they could just write each article by hand. However, with a population of four-hundred-odd inmates which was forever increasing, it wasn’t the most viable option.

      “Wait, we should be a private newsletter,” Ennoshita suggested. “That way, we’ll make money. We shouldn’t give our hard-earned gossip away for free, after all.”

      “Yes,” Shirabu said, nodding enthusiastically. “We send the first edition out free. Or, if we can get some really hot gossip, we could start with lower prices. Our spicy article about Towada will get us loads of interest. Then, we slowly start raising the prices when demand for our gossip increases. You’re a genius, Ennoshita.”

      Ennoshita nodded. “Do we charge money or food?”

      “Money. Everyone in this place has money. How else would commissary get sold out every other day? But, we need to make sure our newsletter is worth the money. Gossip alone isn’t enough. We need something to give it an extra kick.”

      “I know!” Kawanishi said. “We could have an agony aunt section at the back where the guys in this prison send in their problems and we give them advice.”

      “Yeah.” Shirabu said, slicking his hair back and speaking in a deeper voice to mimic the kind of problems that people would send in. “I’m in love with this guy, but he’s straight. Is it possible to turn him gay?”

      Semi let out yet another sort of laughter. “That’s my dilemma with you, my little Shiraboo.”

      Shirabu frowned. “I’m not little!”

      Kawanishi raised an eyebrow. “That’s the issue he has with that sentence?”

      No-one ever really knew what was going on with Semi and Shirabu anymore. Sometimes there’d be weird sexual tension between them, other times it would seem more like they hated each other than anything else. Over time, everyone around them had learned not to question it.

      Yamagata, a brown-haired member of Shiratorizawa, raised his eyebrow in question at everyone. “Hey, what are we going to call it? The newsletter, I mean.” They’d been sitting here fangirling over the latest gossip for a good half-hour, raving about newsletter this and newsletter that but they hadn’t even given it a name yet.

      “Fukurodani Daily,” Kawanishi suggested. “What about that?”

      “Kawanishi, that has to be the deadest title I’ve ever heard. You should be ashamed,” Semi said, tutting to himself. “We should call it Fukurodani’s Fucking Fossip. Gossip, but with a F. Get it?”

      “What a tryhard,” Yamagata muttered under his breath. Somehow, Semi didn’t hear him. He was too busy frowning at the fact that no-one had laughed at his joke. Again.

      “Come on,” Semi prompted, holding up three fingers and pushing them in his teammate’s faces. “The magic three, guys! You know? The magic three! A journalist’s magic trick!”

      On the outside, Shiratorizawa had been a media gang. In their prime, they’d snuck into the houses of famous people and dug up everything they could on them. On top of that, they had also run social media pages with millions of followers who wanted to hear their gossip. They were eventually caught and arrested due to the fact that they had been breaking and entering, stealing cars, committing robberies and other minor crimes, copyright infringement being one of the prime examples. That, and defamation. On social media, a hashtag had started trending — **#freeshiratorizawa** — and it had garnered so much attention that the police force ended up having to make a public announcement, saying that Shiratorizawa had to pay the due price for their crimes. They were one of the only major gangs in here (the other being the Johzenji) that weren’t in for murder-related crimes. Over three-quarters of the prison’s population were in for murder, which wasn’t too alarming since they were all gang members.

      Now that they were behind bars, they only really saw it as an opportunity to gather some more juicy gossip. The only difference was that they had Ennoshita, a Karasuno guy. (In fact, they want to make him a Shiratorizawan and have even asked him, but Ennoshita declines every time. Kageyama would probably kill him if he tried to switch gangs, and to be frank, Ennoshita loves life too much to die.)

      “Kawanishi, don’t listen to him,” Semi said. “Fukurodani Daily is a beautiful title.”

      “What the hell makes you think it’s going to be daily? This prison’s not always buzzing, you know,” Semi insisted. “Not everyone wants to hear about randomers from the Mukankei getting sent to the SHU.”

      “There’s always gossip,” Ennoshita responded. “There’s over four hundred men in this prison, Semi. Fights break out almost daily, people are constantly trying to take Kageyama down and there’s always some juicy love triangles to be found. You just have to know where to look.”

      Everyone nodded, realising that Ennoshita had made yet another strong point. Goshiki was glaring at Ennoshita, although everyone was too busy flicking through their notes to notice.

      “Great,” Shirabu said, breaking the silence at last. “Can I get you to write our front cover story then? The Towada one?”

      Ennoshita nodded. “Yeah.”

      Shirabu jotted down a few quick notes before looking up once again, addressing the men who were sitting around the table. “Great! Now, what else is happening up in this bitch?”

      “Shirabu… just… don’t.” Semi was stuck between laughing and cringing. “When you say _bitch_ , it sounds polite. It’s weird.”

      “Shut up, asshole.”

      “Aww. How cute,” Semi cooed. “Guys, don’t you think so? Shirabu can’t swear.”

      “True,” Goshiki said.

      “Ah, Goshiki! You’ve been quiet today,” Ennoshita said, turning his attention onto Goshiki at last. “Come on. Cough up the goss-goss.”

      There was some more laughing around their little table, although it eventually quietened down so that Goshiki could speak. “Alright,” he began. “So, apparently, Kuroo and Tsukishima broke up—”

      “What the fuck? That happened weeks ago! Jesus Christ, Goshiki. You’re so late,” Semi said, letting out a loud snort of laughter. “Man, Ennoshita’s the only one here who gets good gossip! If you guys want a newsletter, at least get good gossip—”

      “No. I know why,” Goshiki said. “It’s because there’s a bit of a love triangle going on. Kuroo likes Tsukishima, but Tsukishima likes Kageyama more than he likes Kuroo. Kuroo found out and had a massive argument with Tsukishima about it.”

      At this new revelation, there was silence.

      “There were dead sunflowers on the garden that day too,” Goshiki continued. “You know what I think happened? I think Kageyama got jealous and decided to kill the sunflowers because he likes Tsukishima too. Tsukishima and Kuroo argued, and now Tsukishima seems to be a lot closer with Kageyama. I saw them sitting next to each other at lunch.”

      “Ladies and gentlemen, this is the boy who’s going to be succeeding me as leader,” Shirabu proudly announced, earning himself a look from Semi, the vice-leader. “There you go, Goshiki! Now that’s what I call gossip!”

      “No, Goshiki’s wrong.”

      At the bold claim, everyone turned to face Ennoshita, eager to hear what rebuttal the budding journalist had to offer.

      “The first bit’s right. Tsukishima likes Kageyama a lot. But, Kageyama has no feelings for him. Tsukishima kissed Kageyama a few months ago before he started dating Kuroo, but Kageyama basically rejected Tsukishima. I’m not going to delve into the specifics, but those two have always clashed. Even on the outside, they argued way more than they do now. Kageyama’s said he can’t stand Tsukishima on more than one occasion. So… yeah. They’re not together like that.”

      There were loud ooos at Ennoshita’s rebuttal, Semi going as far as to grab an actual mug of tea from underneath his table and start sipping, grabbing a flask so that he could pour out some tea for Kawanishi and Shirabu. Everyone was watching Ennoshita eagerly, waiting to hear what other gossip he had to offer. With one single paragraph, Ennoshita had stolen Goshiki’s thunder. Again.

      “Kuroo’s irritated that Tsukishima likes Kageyama more than him, and Kageyama’s irritated because Tsukishima and Kuroo’s relationship puts a massive spotlight on Karasuno. We all know that Kageyama doesn’t like spotlights. It’s nothing to do with Kageyama having feelings for Tsukishima.”

      Goshiki opened and closed his mouth, trying to think of a rebuttal to discredit everything that Ennoshita had said, but he just… couldn’t. Ennoshita’s argument, as simple as it was, was just too strong to counter. The evidence was on Ennoshita’s side. And, as it turned out, everyone else at this table was on Ennoshita’s side. It sickened Goshiki, really sickened him. Semi and Shirabu were so far up Ennoshita’s ass that they’d believe anything he said.

      Goshiki was the forgotten member of Shiratorizawa. Always trying his hardest to break through, always trying to become an integral member, but at the end of it all, Ennoshita would come through and steal the show. Ennoshita was the show-stopper. The main attraction. Goshiki was just the guy who sold the tickets.

      “Ennoshita, you’re a genius. A whiz kid. You’re everything. Man, this is some good shit,” Semi said, nodding in approval as he began to jot everything down. “We’re going to have the best newsletter in the whole damn prison! These other prison bitches wish they could be us.”

      Yamagata raised an eyebrow at Semi. “We’re the only newsletter in the prison…”

      “For now. I bet Karasuno will try to do some shit when they realise we’re making money off this,” Semi responded. “I mean, now that they’re not bringing in contraband, they’re kind of starting to look a bit useless. It’s time for the media boys to take charge, am I right?”

      Yamagata nodded. “Fair point. I’m here for it.”

      “I think polls would be a good idea too,” one of the quieter members piped up. “We’ll have people vote in to see who the favourite inmate is and who the least favourite inmate is. It’ll be a monthly vote and people will place names in a box. We’ll count it up and put it in our newsletter. We could also do the same for the C.Os.”

      “That’s a cinch. Favourite inmate? Sugawara Koushi. He’s absolute gold. He can sing, dance and he’s cute. Not to mention, he’s dedicated and smart as hell, especially considering that he’s Kageyama’s right-hand man. You know, it’s hard to believe that a guy like Kageyama is really close to someone like Sugawara. He’s so kind too. He always says hi to everyone he sees and he’s really humble. If I weren’t occupied with my dear Shiraboo, I would’ve made my move on him.”

      Shirabu shot Semi a dark look, his jealousy as clear as daylight.

      “I’m not going to cheat on you with Suga, you know.”

      “Hmph,” Shirabu said, folding his arms. “Like Suga would want you.”

      “Oh, shut up. You want me,” Semi retorted.

      “The police wanted you too. That work out for you, Semi?”

      Semi flicked Shirabu’s forehead in response, causing Shirabu to wrinkle his nose in response. Semi simply laughed and ruffled Shirabu’s hair up, oblivious to the annoyed glances they were receiving from everyone else. Then, before anyone could change the subject, Semi decided to speak once again. “Now that I think of it, maybe there’s something going on there. Kageyama and Suga…”

      “No, no. They’re childhood friends, but they don’t like each other like that. It would be weird,” Ennoshita explained, cringing at the mere thought. “Suga’s more like a mother figure to Kageyama. He’s always making sure that Kageyama gets up early and that he eats properly and stuff. You know. Things like that.”

      “In that case, who’s Kageyama fucking? Like, I’m genuinely curious. Seven years and he’s never been seen getting romantic with anyone,” Semi said. “I can guarantee you that every other inmate, gay or not, has had some sort of encounter with another inmate. Or C.O., if you want to get kinky. Like, imagine it. _Yes, officer. Right there. Give me my shots. Oh, yes_!”

      The rest of Shiratorizawa exchanged awkward glances, raising eyebrows and shaking heads until Ennoshita broke the silence at last. “Guys, can we kick Semi out of Shiratorizawa?”

      “Only if you take his place,” Shirabu responded without hesitation.

      “Guys! Come on,” Semi insisted, frowning at the rest of the members who weren’t even trying to veto the decision. “I’m an integral member of Shiratorizawa! And Ennoshita, shut up. You’re not even an official member!”

      “You should’ve never come to Shiratorizawa,” Shirabu said to Semi, rolling his eyes. “Ennoshita, come on. We love you.”

      “All the gossip’s up in Karasuno. I could never leave,” Ennoshita responded. “You’re stuck with Semi for the foreseeable future, guys.” A groan came out at that response, causing Semi to frown at everyone even further.

      “I hate you guys,” Semi muttered.

      “Feeling’s mutual,” was the general response from everyone.

      “Um… Semi… about what you were saying earlier about Kageyama never being romantic, that’s not entirely true. There was one incident in the cafeteria when Johzenji’s ghost was flirting with Kageyama. Kageyama flirted back.”

      “Wait, Kageyama can actually flirt? With people? Give me the details,” Semi said, hurrying back to his seat so he could sit down and start to make notes in his notebook.

      “I’ve got it here somewhere,” Kawanishi said, flicking through his little notebook. It took quite a bit of flicking, but after a few dozen pages, he located the relevant section. “Yeah, got it. Kageyama said to Ghost, ‘let’s see how far you can stretch me’. After that, everyone at their table got too loud for me to hear what was going on, but that sounded pretty flirtatious to me.”

      Ennoshita nodded, remembering the moment as if it had happened yesterday. He might’ve built on Kawanishi’s point, but Kageyama had explicitly forbidden him from divulging any details about his love life. Ennoshita knew better than to defy Kageyama when it came to his personal life.

      “Hmm. It’s good,” Semi said at last. “I think we need more to make it into a good story though. Maybe we should leave it until we find a way to build on it. Shirabu, your thoughts?”

      “I agree with you,” Shirabu said, tutting to himself. “We already have a lot of material to work with. It’ll seem annoying if we only focus on Karasuno. I mean, think about it. Everyone’s forced to hear about them every day. What about if we get some juicy stories on the rapist group?”

      Semi frowned. “Who wants to hear about the rapists?”

      “Wait, wait. I know what angle we could work,” Ennoshita said. “A few years ago, the Johzenji got jumped by some members of the Mukankei for working in the hair salon. Word in the pipeline is that they’re starting to work in the salon again. So… let’s publish that. If the Mukankei decide to jump them again, it gives us a lovely little story that we can charge people to read.”

      “Ennoshita, you’re such a shit-stirrer. The Johzenji are pretty quiet nowadays,” Kawanishi insisted. “We should leave them alone. We have more than enough material to work with. I mean, come on. The Towada story will be more than enough to get people hooked.”

      “A journalist does not simply leave something alone. A journalist digs,” Ennoshita proclaimed, slapping a hand to his chest. “In this case, I’m going to dig for the best news there is. As journalists, we should never settle for the easy path. We should work, and we should work hard. Do you guys understand?”

      Shiratorizawa exchanged looks for a few moments, then they all nodded at last.

      “You’re right. We spare no stone. Everyone will end up in our newsletter,” Goshiki said. “And I’ll be the head of the newsletter!”

      “Goshiki… no,” Semi said, shaking his head. “Just… _no_.”

      “You guys are missing such a big angle,” Ohira said, walking over to the table. Judging by the disposable gloves on his hands, he’d just returned from the hair salon. Even so, he knew what was going on here. He was the only member of Shiratorizawa who didn’t care much for their gossip, but he couldn’t help himself from butting in this time around.

      “Here we go,” Ohira said to himself, sitting down with a triumphant expression on his face. However, the expression disappeared as he pressed a hand to his temple in frustration. “I really need to stop doing that…”

      “What’s the angle?” Semi pushed.

      “Takeru. He’s the angle,” Ohira clarified. “That’s recent. He was Hinata’s ex. You guys know Hinata, right?”

      “Oh, right. He’s Johzenji’s ghost.” Goshiki nodded.

      “He’s quite an interesting man. He was a member of Wakunan, yet he was able to slither into Karasuno’s ranks and gain favour with the boss. Not to mention, he’s completely integrated into dorm life with the Johzenji. And, he’s well-liked by the members of Nekoma. To put it simply, he’s able to become friendly with nearly everyone he meets,” Ohira said. “He came down to the hair salon on Friday with Terushima. He spoke to me. He was a very nice lad, really easy-going. Very jolly, even though Takeru must’ve put him through some very traumatic stuff.”

      “Ohira, if you can find out what the traumatic stuff was, we’ve got ourselves a bestseller story,” Semi said, slapping his hands together in anticipation. “Ennoshita, I bet my left asscheek that Kageyama knows. Any chance you could find out anything from him?”

      “No way. He threatened to kick me out of Karasuno for prying into anything Hinata-related. He’s pretty unpredictable at the moment,” Ennoshita admitted. “I don’t want to try anything.”

      Goshiki raised an eyebrow at Ennoshita. “Weren’t you just saying that a journalist doesn’t leave anything alone? You’re going to back out just because you’re a little scared of Kageyama?”

      “You’ve probably never seen Kageyama when he’s angry,” Ennoshita said. “It’s terrifying. Sometimes he has this silent anger, where he’s clearly angry, but he doesn’t yell. He gives you the vibe that he could kill you and feel completely indifferent about it. The vibe that he could get away with it, just because he’s Kageyama Tobio.”

      Ennoshita shuddered, suddenly aware of a pair of blue eyes watching him. Kageyama wasn’t in the room, he knew that. But… it still felt like he was being watched by Kageyama. A pair of unblinking blue eyes, constantly following him. Waiting for him to fuck up.

      “A journalist will dig,” Ennoshita continued. “But, in this case, this would be like me trying to dig under an active bomb. It’ll explode and take me down with it.”

      “Ugh,” Goshiki said at last. “Kageyama probably has so much juicy gossip. Just imagine how much he knows about this place! Like, do you guys remember that time when he started telling the entire cafeteria about the C.Os? Towada was in that student/teacher relationship with a guy. That was really surprising, actually. Remember how he threw all those people in the SHU for ‘homosexual activity’ when he first got here? Who would’ve guessed that he’d turn out to be a homo?”

      Shirabu cringed slightly at Goshiki’s use of the word ‘homo’.

      “First of all, Towada’s bisexual,” Shirabu corrected. “Apparently he beats off to ‘seductive brunettes’ in his office. That’s gossip straight from the King’s Palace, so it’s probably true.”

      “That doesn’t mean he’s bisexual,” Goshiki insisted. “It’s like how women watch lesbian porn while still being straight.”

      “How would you know what women do? You’ve never even been within a metre of one,” Semi joked, letting out a loud snort. “Only time you’ve seen a woman naked is in your dreams.”

      “You probably don’t even know what the anatomy looks like, Semi. Shut up.”

      “Guys, can we please talk about the gossip?” Kawanishi had a frustrated expression on his face. “You always go off-topic…”

      “There’s nothing else to discuss,” Shirabu said. Any more gossip at this point would just be them wasting potential front cover stories, after all. “Our front cover story is going to be our Towada shocker. On the back, we’ll have an agony aunt column and an announcement about the poll on the bottom-right. On the left, we’ll have the Kuroo and Tsukishima story. The newsletter will be called Fukurodani Daily. Are we all agreed?”

      “One thing,” Semi said. “Where’s our relationship announcement?”

      Shirabu frowned. “What relationship? We’re not in a relationship.”

      “You just said we are, Shiraboo!”

      “I don’t recall.”

      Ennoshita let out a loud snort of laughter. “The day those two stop playing around and fuck will be the day I drop dead.”

      Ohira smirked. “Have fun being immortal, Ennoshita.”

      “Hey! We’ve already fucked,” Semi insisted. “I played with his Shiraboobies.”

      “Don’t call them that!”

      Semi smirked. “Shiraboobies.”

      Shirabu groaned before turning back to the rest of the group and waving a hand in dismissal. “You all know what you need to do. This meeting’s adjourned.”

      Shirabu got out of his chair and was about to leave, only for Semi to pull him back with one hand and caress his face with the other, giving Shirabu a moment to hesitate before leaning in at last. No-one even bothered to react, save for an annoyed click of the tongue from Kawanishi, but Semi’s heart was reacting very much indeed. It was thumping against his ribcage; hard; fast, his lips melting into Shirabu’s the longer they remained in contact. And Shirabu was holding his own, moving his lips against Semi’s.

      But at last, Semi pulled away, smirk on his lips as he looked down at Shirabu who was breathing heavily. “Come on, Shiraboo. I’m taking you in my futon.” And before Shirabu could even protest, he was being lifted into Semi’s arms and carried away as if Semi were some sort of angel who had come to bring him back to heaven. The rest of Shiratorizawa exchanged looks, some of them sighing as they got up to start performing their individual tasks for the day.


	20. Karasuno's World

Chapter Twenty: Karasuno’s World

      On Tuesday morning, Kageyama was surprised when a C.O. turned up to the Karasuno dorm with one demand for him: go to Aida’s office, now. Of course, Kageyama complied. He excused himself from Suga’s square and made his way down the long corridors until he reached the familiar blue door of Aida’s office. When he walked in, he saw that Aida was sat at her leather chair, patiently awaiting his entrance. In front of her was a single piece of paper, printed with the headline ‘FUKURODANI DAILY’.

      “Kageyama,” Aida said, not even bothering to begin with standard greetings, “we have a problem. Yesterday, Shiratorizawa members were given access to a computer in the staffroom. They printed out this… thing and thanked the C.O. who had given them access before leaving. I questioned one of their members, Ennoshita—”

      “Wait,” Kageyama said, moving towards Aida’s desk. “Ennoshita?”

      “Yes,” Aida responded, sounding impatient. “Ennoshita Chikara.”

      As the cogwheels turned in Kageyama’s head, he slowly began to realise that this could be bad. Very bad. Ennoshita was involving himself with other gangs, and he wasn’t always the best at keeping his mouth shut. Kageyama knew that Ennoshita was a powerful influence when it came to journalism, but Ennoshita was also a bit of a blockhead. He couldn’t tell right from wrong.

      “Ennoshita’s not Shiratorizawa,” Kageyama said at last. “He’s Karasuno.”

      “That’s not the point. Were you aware of this newsletter?”

      Kageyama frowned. “Well, it certainly didn’t go through me. I don’t understand. What’s the problem?”

      “I’ll let you take a look for yourself,” Aida said at last, handing the paper over to Kageyama. When Kageyama’s eyes focused on the bold headline, he could’ve sworn that his eyes almost popped out of their sockets.

**TOWADA YOSHIKI: HE’LL GIVE YOU SHOTS (AND TAKE CUMSHOTS).**

      That wasn’t the worst of it, though. The accompanying image consisted of a badly-photoshopped image of Kageyama and Towada in some sort of sex dungeon. Towada had been photoshopped into a maid outfit while Kageyama was rocking some sort of dominatrix get-up, even complete with a whip.

      “For God’s sake,” Kageyama muttered under his breath, trying to keep his irritation under wraps. If it wasn’t for the fact that Aida was in front of him, he might’ve let out a colourful range of swear words to explain exactly how he felt about this situation. But, he couldn’t.

      So, Kageyama continued to read through the article which detailed how Kageyama referred to Towada as his ‘dog’ and how Towada was required to address Kageyama with honorifics at all times. It took everything Kageyama had not to tear the paper apart when he saw that there was a fictional addition which detailed a sexual encounter the two had shared in three weeks ago. Right at the end of the article, just before Kageyama’s eyes could burn out from the filth he’d been forced to read, there was a quirky little note: **Written by Ennoshita Chikara with the expertise of Shiratorizawa!**

      “You seriously don’t think this is real.”

      “I’d hope not,” Aida responded. She’d been watching Kageyama’s facial expressions, watching the genuine frustration which was laced in the usual expressionless blue of his eyes. Right now, it seemed like Kageyama was telling the truth. But, Aida had noticed that Towada had been acting strange as of recent. Something was telling her that there was some truth to that article. Something in there had to be relevant.

      “The way you say that makes me think that you don’t believe me.”

      “Convince me, Kageyama. Convince me it’s not true.”

      “Well, first of all, I wouldn’t ‘dip my tongue in Towada’s hairy crevice’,” he said, paraphrasing from the newsletter. “Believe it or not, I have standards. Towada doesn’t meet those standards. What kind of idiot consorts with the enemy?”

      “For all I know, you could be using sex to manipulate him.”

      Kageyama cringed at the words, not quite understanding how Aida believed that the events in the article could be remotely truthful. “Let me remind you that Towada has stamped on me, sent my men to the SHU and used derogatory language towards me on more than one occasion. There are witnesses who can testify to that. On the other hand, I guarantee that there is no-one in this prison who can tell you something that I’ve done to Towada and back it up with evidence. I can guarantee that right now. I have done nothing to that man. Not now, not in the past, and not ever.”

      When Aida didn’t respond, Kageyama knew that he’d won the discussion.

      “You and I both know that Towada’s an abhorrent man with a lack of respect for people. We both know that. He’s abused his privilege as C.O. on more than one occasion. I could’ve easily pushed for him to be sacked after what happened in the cafeteria,” Kageyama reminded her. “But, I didn’t. I’ve ruined enough lives on the outside. So, despite him attempting to ruin my life, I don’t quite feel like ruining his.”

      Even though Aida didn’t exactly want to agree with Kageyama, the guy she was technically meant to be fighting against, she couldn’t help but cave in. She knew that there was truth to Kageyama’s words. Knowing how he operated, he could’ve easily gotten rid of Towada if he wanted. But, he hadn’t. Towada was still here. Still alive, still intact. There was no-one who could argue that there was something going on. And, the article was obviously fictional when you looked at it with a rational eye.

      “Fine,” Aida said at last, deciding that it was best to dead the issue. “Have you looked at the back of the newsletter?”

      Kageyama shook his head before looking back down and turning the newsletter to the other side. His eyes widened when he realised that it was a segment on Takeru, the stories of five men who had been hurt or victimised by him. Along the side of the paper were two polls: Favourite Inmate and Least Favourite Inmate. Now that Kageyama thought of it, he remembered Shiratorizawa traipsing around the cafeteria with boxes and paper slips during lunch yesterday.

      “So, that’s what they were doing…”

      Kageyama’s eyes simply skimmed over the names and numbers at first, but when he actually paid attention to the numbers and just who had been included in the poll, he did a double take.

      **Favourite Inmate: Sugawara Koushi (211 votes out of 456)**

      **Runner-up: Yamaguchi Tadashi (114 votes out of 456)**

      **Least Favourite Inmate: Kageyama Tobio (219 votes out of 456)**

      **Runner-up: Nakashima Takeru (203 votes out of 456)**

      “This newsletter’s all over the prison, and it hasn’t even been 24 hours. A copy even made it onto the Internet. The only way I was able to get a physical copy of this was because I saw it sticking out of a trash bin,” Aida admitted. “At count today, we’re searching the dorms and taking every last copy of these newsletters.”

      Kageyama didn’t respond. He was too busy staring at the results. These same results that were telling him that he was worse than Takeru. Takeru. He couldn’t quite understand what he was looking at. The raw facts were there, his 219 to Takeru’s 203, but somehow, Kageyama still couldn’t understand it.

      What had he done that made him so bad? It wasn’t like he targeted people who didn’t cross him — honestly, it was only a small section of people that Kageyama would target, and even then, they most likely deserved it. But… the majority hating him? It made no sense to him. Why?

      He didn’t force people to swallow rats.

      He didn’t sexually assault strangers.

      He’d never once dabbled in illicit substances.

      His only crime had been picking up a sniper rifle and picking off the scum of the world. People who weren’t worthy to play on the court of life.

      How did that one little crime of Kageyama’s prevail over Takeru’s countless crimes against humanity as a whole?

      “That’s almost 50% of the prison,” Kageyama said at last, “that don’t like me.”

      “That’s the price of having favourites, Kageyama.” Aida wasn’t too surprised by the poll results. It was only the front-page story which had shocked her, really. Not to mention, the image. The image. Now every time Aida went up to Towada, she wouldn’t be able to see anything else but that damn image. It didn’t appear that Towada had seen the newsletter yet, although he’d definitely heard about it. Some gutsy inmate had asked him if Kageyama was the “seme or uke”.

      “Have Shiratorizawa been sanctioned?”

      “They’ve all been spoken to,” was Aida’s only response.

      “That’s lenient of you, don’t you think?”

      “Well, I can’t put them in the SHU because they technically didn’t do anything wrong. I’ve sacked the C.O. who allowed them to use the computer and instructed all C.Os not to allow such an incident to happen again,” Aida informed the Karasuno leader. “Shiratorizawa won’t be able to print these articles out now.”

      “Even so, these stories are damaging to the prison environment—”

      “Kageyama, if you’re annoyed about the front-cover story being about you, just say that. There’s no need to go on about ‘prison environment’ and ‘leniency’. These stories haven’t hurt anyone. No-one’s been put in danger. They’ve done nothing wrong. It’s inmates being inmates.”

      “Well, I’m saying that they deserve a proper sanction. Are you disagreeing with me?” There was nothing that could sate Kageyama’s current irritation. Absolutely nothing. He wanted to punch something, and not just once. He wanted to punch something more than once. Not twice, but thrice. Not even thrice, but—

      “I think you’re forgetting who’s in charge here,” Aida said at last. “You might rule the inmates, but I’m in charge of this prison. What I say goes. You will not lay a hand on Shiratorizawa. They have been given their warning, they have been informed of the proper protocol to make a prison newsletter and that is all that is going to happen. Do you hear me, Kageyama? Nothing is to happen to them.”

      “Yeah,” Kageyama finally responded through gritted teeth. “Nothing will happen to them. Sorry to be hasty, but I’m going to have to excuse myself.”

      “Before you leave, I have one last question. Towada came in here begging me to put cameras in his office a while back. I had Oikawa sort that out. However, Towada went and gave all the cameras back to Oikawa yesterday evening. I even checked Towada’s office myself. No cameras whatsoever,” Aida said, eyes narrowed in suspicion. “You’re sure that you have nothing to do with Towada.”

      “I’m positive. Now, may I leave?”

      “You’re not threatening him,” Aida continued, “because that would definitely land you and anyone else involved in Shinzen. But of course you know that, don’t you?”

      “I know that.”

      Aida smiled. “Great. You can leave now.”

      Kageyama left through the door, only to bump into Towada who had been hovering by the door. He shot a dark glance in Towada’s direction, but didn’t say anything to him. He couldn’t interact with Towada at any point during his normal prison routine, no thanks to Ennoshita. He’d have to go out of his way to do it now.

***

      “Ennoshita, you have thirty seconds to explain what the fuck you were thinking before I lose my temper and throw you down to the depths of hell,” Kageyama hissed, grabbing the half-asleep Ennoshita by the scuff of his neck and dragging the reporter into his room. He slammed the door shut before turning his attention to Ennoshita once again, who was staring up at Kageyama with a dumb look on his face.

      “Uh… we charged 2,500 yen per copy. All two-hundred got sold out. We sold the last ten copies for 5,000. So, we made… uh… 475,000 add 50,000… just over half a million yen,” he said, getting up from the floor that he’d just been thrown onto. “The front page story was super popular.”

      “I couldn’t care less about your worthless yen,” Kageyama snapped. “What the fuck possessed you to write a story like that about me? You remember I’m in a relationship, right?”

      In the midst of this all, Kageyama had finally remembered that there was a chance that Hinata had seen the front page story. The same one detailing his ‘relationship’ with Towada. There was some part of him which feared the possibility of Hinata believing this stupid story and breaking things off with him. To tell the truth, Kageyama wasn’t sure what he would do if he lost Hinata again. It was weird. Hinata was a bit of a scrub, didn’t have many skills and irritated the living hell out of Kageyama, but for some reason, Kageyama just couldn’t see himself functioning without him.

      “Well, no-one knows anything about you. Therefore, a story detailing your ventures would sell. And guess what? It did, so there’s no problem. I’ll give you a cut if you want,” Ennoshita said, doing some quick maths on his fingers before holding up ten fingers. “Ten thousand alright with you?”

      Kageyama slammed his fist on top of Ennoshita’s head, causing Ennoshita to fall to the ground once again. “Tell me, Ennoshita. Do you want to join Shiratorizawa?”

      “No,” Ennoshita said, wincing as he rubbed his sore head. “I love Karasuno…”

      “Well, Ennoshita. Your love for Karasuno has created countless problems for me now. So, from the bottom of my heart, thank you.” His tone was low, but deadly. Ennoshita was trying to keep a straight face, but even now, it was pretty difficult. He kind of just wanted to beg Kageyama to calm down. “I’ll issue you your one and only warning. If I see you with Shiratorizawa, I’ll make sure every last one of them end up in Shinzen. And if I see a new edition of your daily newsletter floating about, I’ll make sure you end up six feet under. How fucking stupid can you be? Incriminating your captain? Who does that?”

      “We made half a million—”

      “We’re worth millions! Do you think we need that money?”

      Ennoshita didn’t respond. So, Kageyama continued. “I expect to be crossed by people. But, I don’t expect to be crossed by the same people who I’ve worked with for years. This is a betrayal, Ennoshita. And I will treat it as such. As of today, you’re banned from this dorm. Take your things and leave.”

      “Wait. Wait. I’m still part of Karasuno—”

      “No Karasuno member would do what you’ve done.”

      “Hold a poll,” Ennoshita said at last, managing to contain his fear, “and we’ll see if the others think it’s a betrayal too.”

***

      Twenty minutes later, the members of Karasuno had gathered in Ennoshita’s square, all caught up on the newsletter situation. Of course, they’d heard about the newsletter while doing their duties yesterday, but they hadn’t actually heard about its contents. When Kageyama had told them what the newsletter had contained (with countless interruptions from Ennoshita, who was trying to justify his decisions) they were unable to contain their shock. They all knew how Ennoshita liked to gossip. But, when they’d taken one of his notebooks and flicked through them, there was all sorts of information that he’d been planning on putting in future publications. A story about Suga and Keishin’s forbidden romance. A story about the so-called ‘love triangle’ between Kageyama, Kuroo and Tsukishima. A horror story about ‘Yaku the Butcher’. Hell, there was even a story debating the possibility of Kenma and Yamaguchi being secret lovers. The point was, Ennoshita had been planning to incriminate every last one of them just to gain Shiratorizawa’s approval.

      “Ennoshita,” Suga began, “I’d love to defend you. But… I really can’t. Stories like that can damage a person’s reputation to the point of no return. That’s something that a rival gang would do. Not a teammate.”

      “Still… people make mistakes,” Yamaguchi said. “As long as Ennoshita promises not to hang out with Shiratorizawa again, I don’t think we should kick him out of Karasuno. He’s been with us for a very long time.”

      “That’s like someone saying, ‘damn, I’ve got herpes. I could cure it, but it’s not that much of an inconvenience so I don’t need to do anything about it. It’s not like it’ll get worse, right?’” Tsukishima had finally spoken, opening up with a very Kuroo-esque comparison about herpes.

      “Can you not compare me to herpes? Come on, Tsukki.”

      Tsukishima glared at Ennoshita. “Don’t call me that.”

      Strangely enough, the only one who had remained silent throughout this entire ordeal was Kinoshita. He was standing to one side, not really saying anything. “Kinoshita,” Kageyama prompted. “Your opinion?”

      “Chikara, you’re an idiot. You seem to have a death wish. But, I don’t want you to leave Karasuno. That’s just me,” Kinoshita said. “No deep shit behind it. No comparisons. I don’t want him to go. That’s all.”

      “So, raise your hands if you think Ennoshita should stay.”

      Yamaguchi and Kinoshita raised their hands, which Kageyama had been expecting. What he hadn’t been expecting was the third hand that went up. Tsukishima’s. But before Kageyama could question Tsukishima’s decision, the blonde was already opening his mouth to explain.

      “Ennoshita’s sat in on all of our private meetings, along with the ones we have with Nekoma. He knows a lot about what we do. It would be stupid to kick him out. So, he stays with Karasuno. We put restrictions on him hanging out with Shiratorizawa, but we don’t kick him out. That’s a recipe for trouble. I’m sure that’s the last thing you want, Kageyama. Trouble.”

      “He’s right, Tobio.”

      Suga was nodding, impressed by Tsukishima’s intuition. Being surrounded by all of these masterminds like Kageyama and Tsukishima could be really overwhelming sometimes, especially since he was only average. Textbook. Then again, he’d been voted favourite inmate by anyone. Maybe being ‘textbook’ wasn’t that bad.

      “Fine,” Kageyama said at last. “You stay. But on one condition. You will burn every last notebook you own. And, you’ll never speak to Shiratorizawa again.”

      “First off, that’s _two_ conditions. And second, I don’t agree.”

      Everyone began to give Ennoshita looks, although none of them dared to speak. They could feel Kageyama’s dark aura reaching record highs. Forget about carbon dioxide, Kageyama’s anger was the biggest pollutant there was.

      “No. I’m sick of being treated like a second-rate citizen by you guys. Shiratorizawa value me so much. And, we get to talk to really cool people! There are guys in the Mukankei that all come from different backgrounds, but they come together to help one another. Despite being treated like trash, there are so many easy-going guys in there that are genuinely kind-hearted and warm!”

      “Yeah, because we murderers are so kind-hearted,” Tsukishima interjected with that same sarcastic tone of his. “Oh, poor murderers! It’s alright though, they’re ‘warm’. Can’t do any harm—”

      “What about us?” Ennoshita was going on as usual. It was as if he hadn’t even heard Tsukishima’s voice. “What do we do, Kageyama? We start arguments, hate, and we do things to improve ourselves. I don’t know if I want to be part of that anymore!”

      Kageyama was stuck between slamming his own head against a wall and slamming Ennoshita’s head against a wall. In the end, he opted for neither. He breathed in and out, calming himself down, before he spoke. “So,” he began, “what do you want me to do?”

      The others were shocked by the effort Kageyama was making to remain calm. Usually, he would’ve lost his shit by now, but he was still… calm. Granted, it looked like one touch would cause Kageyama to erupt and start spewing hot lava at anyone who dared to come near, but he was keeping it together.

      “I’ll stay with Karasuno. I’ll keep making my newsletters with Shiratorizawa. Journalists don’t shy away from stories. And, I’ll keep my notebooks. If you can’t agree with that, then I’ll gladly move to the Mukankei dorms.”

      “Your journalism career ended a long time ago,” Kageyama said, stress lines beginning to form in his forehead. He really wasn’t used to containing all this irritation inside of him. “I’ll never know why you insist on forcing it.”

      Before joining Karasuno, Ennoshita had been a writer for the _Japan Times_ newspaper. He’d been a rookie journalist, stuck on the ‘death row’ team. The ‘death row’ team had been known for writing subpar stories due to the fact that they were never able to get their hands on good stories or leads. Without good leads, they were unable to publish any meaningful stories. And without any recognition, their careers would inevitably boil down to one definitive term: absolutely meaningless.

      After two whole years of being stuck on the death row team and struggling to make ends meet, Ennoshita had made a desperate act to save his career. He’d loaded up Microsoft Word, thought hard to himself, and slowly began to fabricate a story entitled ‘Jimmy’s World’.

      It had about an eight-year-old named Jimmy, an eight-year-old who had become addicted to heroin. The story had attracted national attention, being translated into many different languages for many different people to see, and Ennoshita had become renowned in the journalism world for this single article. He had even received an award for it. However, those who had been especially heartbroken by the story had tried to find this ‘Jimmy’, people ranging from policemen to doctors. It had culminated with Ennoshita being forced to confess the truth, that he’d fabricated the entire thing because he was sick of being considered a subpar journalist. He'd wanted to prove that he was just as good as the veteran journalists, just as good as the people at the top.

      He lost his award, his attention, and his job.

      He gained the sympathy of Kageyama Tobio.

      And, he sidled his way into one of Tokyo’s most notorious gangs. Karasuno.

      “You’re right,” Ennoshita said at last. “My career is over. I made up a story, took an award for it and it’s the only success I had during the course of my career. It was snatched from me. But, just because something is over doesn’t mean that I can’t dream. Just because I made one mistake, doesn’t mean that everything is over.”

      “You didn’t learn from your mistake, Ennoshita,” Suga said, stepping in before Kageyama could. He knew that Kageyama was bound to explode if he kept trying to talk some sense into Ennoshita. “You’re still making up stories. You know there’s no love triangle with Kageyama, Kuroo and Tsukishima, don’t you?”

      Ennoshita shrugged. “Well… I guess…”

      “And, what you wrote about me and Keishin. That was out of order,” Suga said. His voice was calm, but the pain in his eyes was evident. Ennoshita hadn’t just written that the two had been in a forbidden relationship. He’d called Keishin a ‘sexual predator’ who wanted to ‘lead Suga astray from the path of righteousness’. In other words, Ennoshita had been implying that Keishin had manipulated him into sex. “There are so many people that don’t agree with our relationship. And that’s okay. But making up lies like that isn’t. Ennoshita, lies can destroy a person’s entire life.”

      “I’m sorry,” Ennoshita said at last. “I just… I wanted a good story.”

      “I still want to kick him out,” Kageyama muttered. He was even angrier now that he knew that Ennoshita had managed to hurt Suga with his actions. He wanted nothing more than to slaughter Ennoshita on the spot. But, he wouldn’t. Not because there was any ‘moral barrier’ holding him back, but because he had Aida watching him. He had to remain clear-headed, and killing Ennoshita while he felt emotional would cause him to become sloppy. Kageyama didn’t do sloppy.

      “I’ll stop hanging out with Shiratorizawa,” Ennoshita said at last, although he didn’t sound too genuine. “But please, let me keep my notebooks. Please.”

      “No,” Kageyama snapped. “What happens when those Shiratorizawa scrubs get hold of the notebooks and start spreading your bullshit stories? Get new notebooks if you want. But you’re burning all of those. No, actually. I’ll do it.”

      “No,” Ennoshita insisted, dashing over to his notebooks and spreading his arms out protectively to stop Kageyama from coming any closer. “You can’t. I’ve had these for years. You’re not burning them. You’ll have to burn me alive with them.” To illustrate his point, he gathered the notebooks into his arms, holding them close to his body as he stared up defiantly at Kageyama.

      “I have no complaints,” Kageyama said, whipping his lighter out of his pocket. He flicked it on in one move, the rest of the Karasuno members shocked by how quickly he’d done it. Kageyama proceeded to set fire to the notebooks, even with Ennoshita holding them. Predictably enough, Ennoshita threw them out of his hands and stamped the flames out, tears gathering in his eyes.

      “Leave my books alone! Leave them!”

      “Kageyama,” Kinoshita said at last, no longer able to remain quiet. “Can you let me speak to him alone? I’ll have him out in a few minutes.”

      Kageyama hesitated for a few moments. He really didn’t want to let Ennoshita think he was off the hook with this, but he knew that Kinoshita was probably the only person that could talk sense into Ennoshita at this point. So, with a reluctant sigh, Kageyama nodded his head. “Fine.”

      The two of them disappeared into Ennoshita’s square, their hushed whispers going back and forth for a few moments. It was five minutes later when the two of them came back out, Ennoshita holding all forty-two notebooks in his arms. He promptly placed them at Kageyama’s feet before bowing his head in apology, Kinoshita standing beside him.

      “Take them,” Ennoshita said, eyes focused straight down on the ground. “As of today, I’m turning a new leaf. I’ll only gather the truth, and nothing but the truth. Surely, you have no complaints about that.”

      “I’ll be the judge of that.”

      Kageyama gathered the notebooks and took them back to his room, throwing them straight in the bin. He promptly flicked his lighter on and set them on fire, throwing a cover over the bin so that the smell of smoke wouldn’t get too bad. Of course, he’d have to dispose of them properly (and of course, the man behind the notebooks) but for now, Kageyama would have to settle for this conclusion.

***

      Kageyama spent the remainder of Tuesday with a heavy conscience, holing himself up in his room. He didn’t come out for breakfast, nor did he come out for lunch. Hinata came down to speak to him at some point and probed a bit about his low mood. He was slightly taken aback when Kageyama hugged him all of a sudden, although he didn’t resist. It was so rare for Kageyama to spontaneously initiate any form of affection that it would baffle Hinata for some moments, but then cause his heart to explode in a burst of joy.

      “You’ve probably heard about the newsletter.”

      “Yeah,” Hinata said, “Higa bought a copy. I saw it.”

      “It’s not true.”

      “I know,” Hinata said once again, eyebrows raised as if he were asking Kageyama how he could even begin to be attracted to anyone other than him. Kageyama wanted to be annoyed by that cockiness, but he couldn’t bring himself to be genuinely annoyed by it. He felt relieved, so damn relieved.

      “You’re not worse than Takeru,” Hinata continued. “I promise, Kageyama. You’re becoming a better person as the days pass. You’re doing more to improve life around the prison. If anything, I’m proud of you.”

      The two sat together for a good part of that day, the both of them sharing in each other’s melancholies. Hinata spoke a little about the fact that he’d argued with Terushima, although he didn’t mention that it was over Kageyama himself. He really didn’t want to lose Kageyama to some stupid argument right now.

      Tuesday eventually gave way to a weary Wednesday, which forced Kageyama out of his bed and out of his room at six a.m. to run on the track with Suga. Kageyama’s endurance had been increasing a lot ever since he started doing his daily running. He never saw Hinata on the track anymore, although he’d definitely have to ask Hinata to come on the track soon. Kageyama reckoned that he’d be able to keep up with Hinata now. After all, he was eating regularly, staying healthy and he was always moving. He was doing well.

      Once two hours had passed, Kageyama and Suga hurried back to the dorm for count, the both of them so focused on running to the Karasuno dorm that they didn’t notice the poster on the wall. It was only one hand-printed poster, but it had garnered quite a bit of attention from corridor wanderers.

      **Want to know the truth about Karasuno? Find out at breakfast today!**

      It wasn’t until nine o’clock that chaos ensued. At breakfast, there were articles plastered to each table. The Karasuno and Nekoma members had been given coloured paper to read off, although it felt more of a mocking gesture than anything else. When Kageyama actually saw what the articles were about, he felt the colour beginning to drain from his face, as did the other members.

***

** Karasuno’s World: An Article by Enoshita Chikara **

      Karasuno is a group that has ruled Fukurodani from the second they stepped through the gates. Many question their power. Many question whether they deserve the right to rule at all. Today, I, Enoshita Chikara, a member of Karasuno, am here to tell you what you, the people, deserve to know. You all know about Kageyama Tobio. But what of the other members?

      **Sugawara Koushi, Fukurodani’s favourite inmate.**

      He seduced Cigster and caused him to lose his job. Not only this, but he did it while in a relationship with our formerly beloved inmate, Sawamura Daichi. (Fun fact, Daichi died because your fave broke his heart!) Sugawara got down on his knees and abandoned any sense of dignity in order to earn us the privileges we so love to wave around in your faces. Sugawara Koushi, a man who has killed. Plundered. Stolen. And worst of all, he’s cheated. But, moving on.

      **Tsukishima Kei.** Known by many to be sarcastic and snarky, but his close friends know he’s a softie at heart. He spends his days in the chapel, flicking Bible pages and reciting Bible verses.

      At night, he gets fucked on the altar. Yes, Christians. You read that right. Your beloved Tsukishima has gay sex on the same altar you use to divide your bread and pour your wine, the same altar you use to hold your Bibles and hold your prayers, the same altar you use to worship your Lord. Since the other participant isn’t part of Karasuno, I’ll be kind enough to omit his name. Even so, I’m sure the more perceptive inmates will be able to figure it out.

      **Yamaguchi Tadashi.** A man with an artistic eye and a kind hand.

      He is an unproblematic member of Karasuno, as you may be happy to know. Some may not even remember that he’s part of Karasuno. He spends his days in the library and speaks often with many members of different dorms in the prison. There’s not a soul in this prison that could hate him. He believes in second chances and helping others. His only weakness is that he’s too idealistic. But, is that a weakness? I’ll leave you, the reader, to answer that.

      **And last but not least, Kinoshita Hisashi.** A man who blends into the background, a man who no-one notices at all. What does he do in the shadows, you may ask? I’ll tell you.

      He has one secret, a secret that he’ll never tell anyone.

      Years ago, there was a Karasuno member who died in this prison. Narita Kazuhito. The killer was never discovered, however many believe it to be either Wakunan or the Johzenji. We believed that it was Wakunan due to our longstanding rivalry with them. But one night, Kinoshita made a shocking revelation. It was him who had slaughtered Narita and left his body parts lying around the prison. It was him who had wanted to trigger a state of chaos within the prison. It was him who had wanted to herald himself higher than these members he considered to be subpar. And, with his shadowy nature cloaking his true intent, he stole a life without anyone ever discovering the truth.

      At least, until today. Enjoy your breakfast, everyone. If you liked this article, please consider making a donation towards me, Enoshita Chikara!

***

      “I didn’t write this. I swear, I swear, I swear, I swear, I—”

      Kageyama wasn’t listening. He’d already jumped over the table and grabbed Ennoshita by the top of his head, shaking Ennoshita so damn hard that he felt like he had vertigo.

      “I’ll fucking kill you,” Kageyama snapped, “and I mean it this time. You don’t cross me twice and live to witness the consequences.”

      Usually, Suga would’ve jumped in to stop Kageyama, but this time, he simply stood to one side. Suga wanted to see Ennoshita get what he deserved.

      “Wait, wait. Kageyama. Yamaguchi’s the only one who didn’t get insulted,” Ennoshita insisted, trying his best to speak with all the dizziness he was being subjected to by Kageyama. He was still yanking Ennoshita’s head back and forth, and Ennoshita was all too aware of the hard table just nearby. He had to talk Kageyama out of this before the leader could resort to more… violent means. “Maybe he wrote it to frame me. Please. Come on. I didn’t write this.”

      Yamaguchi’s eyes were wide open with disbelief, almost as if he were a deer in headlights. He couldn’t believe that Ennoshita was actually attempting to pin this on him, especially since he’d tried to convince the others that Ennoshita wouldn’t try to hurt Karasuno on purpose.

      “My loyalty to Karasuno is absolute,” Yamaguchi said. “I pledged myself to this gang. My life started with Karasuno, and it’ll end with Karasuno. These people are my family and the other inmates are my friends. I wouldn’t hurt any of them.”

      Before Kageyama could have a chance to use any nearby objects to the best of his ability, a cluster of C.Os rushed forwards and wrestled Ennoshita out of Kageyama’s grasp (and by extension, the room) sensing that he was at the receiving end of some very disgusted glares from other inmates. Even if the articles were about Karasuno, a group many inmates were interested about, Ennoshita was snitching. And even if he hadn’t written the article, he’d at least told someone the information that had made such an article possible. That, in the eyes of these inmates, was unforgivable. Gossip was interesting, that was for sure. The Towada and Kageyama article had been funny, since it was fairly obvious that it had been intended to be satirical. But, this? This was vilifying his teammates.

      Now, it was practically guaranteed. People, even people outside of Karasuno, would make attempts on Ennoshita’s life.

      Goshiki watched as the C.Os dragged Ennoshita out with a smile on his face, knowing that there was little chance of Ennoshita making it back to Shiratorizawa alive. That little boy had gotten way too big for his boots, thinking that he could take Goshiki’s place as the future head of Shiratorizawa. Ennoshita had never been a Shiratorizawan, and he was never going to be a Shiratorizawan.

      Never.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1980/09/28/jimmys-world/605f237a-7330-4a69-8433-b6da4c519120/?utm_term=.b1f4dc59646b  
> ^^Jimmy's World article for anyone who's interested. Yup, it's a true story! (Well, not the Jimmy thing but the whole 'fake article' storyline is true.)


	21. My Heart, Your Platter

Chapter Twenty-One: My Heart, Your Platter

      Ennoshita had ended up getting moved to the SHU for his own safety. The prison had given him a choice — he could either go back to the Karasuno dorm, or he could go and stay in the SHU for a month. It hadn’t been too surprising that Ennoshita had opted to go to the SHU. He wouldn’t be able to clear his name, at least not yet. Karasuno, on the other hand, had remained unaffected by the contents of the article. It was no secret that Karasuno had done some horrific things — hell, most of the gangs who were locked up had done much worse — and because of that, opinions on Karasuno didn’t really change. Besides, the ‘Karasuno’s World’ article had been overshadowed by a piece of ground-breaking news.

      During Wednesday morning’s surprise search, they’d discovered something quite important in Mukankei Ni. Cocaine. It wasn’t just any regular cocaine, either. It was found in Takeru’s old futon. Aida, along with some other C.Os, had gone down to Takeru’s square, only to discover that there was countless amounts of cocaine stored in the blankets of his futon. It had been embedded in there so well that they almost missed it, but when Towada made the discovery, they found more and more. By the time they’d finished tearing the bedsheets apart, they’d found around one pound of cocaine concealed in there. There was no mistake — it was the same product that was discovered in the kitchens on that fateful day. That one discovery would make all the difference in the court trials of Yamamoto, Asahi, Nishinoya and Tanaka. While they still hadn’t managed to score themselves a closer date (according to Aida, their trials were due respectively on the 12th, 13th, 14th and 15th August, one month and a bit from now) it was now starting to seem quite likely that the four men could end up getting sent back to Fukurodani for one reason: the drugs really weren’t theirs. It had required a lot of police efforts to uncover the truth, but after some arduous twenty-four hours, they reached the conclusion that the product rolling about in Mukankei Ni was a lot purer than what had been found in the kitchen. If the kitchen had been distributing it, it would’ve been the other way around. Therefore, the four of them couldn’t have been responsible for the drug spread.

      “Kinoshita,” Kageyama said, standing at the entrance of Kinoshita’s square. It was Thursday afternoon and Kinoshita still hadn’t moved from his bed. He hadn’t faced anyone ever since the reveal in the article. Under usual circumstances, a C.O. would’ve made him come down for breakfast, but the C.Os were being stretched thinner than ever right now. Long hours of work and a paycheck which didn’t exactly reflect their efforts. Some Karasuno member who didn’t want to go to breakfast was the least of their problems. “Do you think that I’m going to kill you?”

      He didn’t respond. He was shaking, staring up at Kageyama with fear in his eyes. Kinoshita had murdered a Karasuno member. Of course Kageyama was going to kill him. If anything, Kinoshita would be lucky if Kageyama made it quick. At the very least, he wanted to die through suffocation rather than any sort of Tsukishima-style execution. Or, even worse, at the hands of Kageyama himself.

      “I really need to start keeping a closer eye on my men,” Kageyama pondered, tutting to himself. “First I’ve got Takeru framing Asahi and Noya, then I’ve got Ennoshita consorting with Shiratorizawa and now I’ve got my own men killing each other. It’s like I’m the ringleader of some sort of circus.”

      Again, Kinoshita didn’t respond. He was so terrified that he might’ve just pissed himself if he dared to move a muscle. It was strange. He’d worked alongside Kageyama for many years, and yet he feared Kageyama more than anyone else in his life. That was Kageyama. Nice to be around, as long as you didn’t get on the wrong side of him.

      Kinoshita was pretty damn sure he’d crossed the line from good to bad.

      “Well, I guess it’s customary for me to ask why you did it.”

      Narita hadn’t been the most integral member of Karasuno, but he’d still been a member of Karasuno. He’d been there even longer than Kageyama. He’d watched Kageyama rise to the top. Yet, he’d been struck down the second they stepped into Fukurodani. One day, he had been sitting quietly at their cafeteria table. The next, his organs has been left in various locations around the prison. It had been as if some sick person had decided to play treasure hunt with Narita’s body.

      “He insulted you,” Kinoshita said at last, lips trembling as he spoke the words. “He said that you were a useless leader. That a good leader would’ve never let us end up in here. He kept on saying we should go against you, that we should strike up a deal to get out. So… I panicked. And, I did it. I knew I had to make it look like a kill that wasn’t ours, so…”

      “I won’t kill you,” Kageyama said at last. “Your death would solve nothing. I just wanted to know the reasoning behind your actions. That’s all.” He turned and went to leave the room, much to Kinoshita’s surprise.

      “Wait,” Kinoshita said. Kageyama turned around, raised an eyebrow at Kinoshita. “I… Ennoshita was the only one I told the truth. So… it must’ve been him. The article.”

      “No. Ennoshita didn’t write that article.”

      Kinoshita frowned, not quite understanding Kageyama’s reasoning. “It had inside information on there. Only Karasuno members know that kind of stuff.”

      “I’m pretty sure Ennoshita knows how to write his own name,” Kageyama said, holding up the article in his hand. “Something about this article bothered me. Well, besides from the contents. The title, ‘Karasuno’s World’. Ennoshita’s last article on the outside was called ‘Jimmy’s World’ and it got him fired. It’s strange that he would want to allude to that particular article. And then, I looked at his family name. It’s written with the wrong kanji. It’s been written _Enoshita_ rather than _Ennoshita_. And, there’s some discrepancies with the way Narita’s name is written. There’s some other little hints scattered around, but that’s the most prominent one. Ennoshita was framed.”

      Kinoshita gasped, getting up and looking at the article closely. Kageyama was right. The wrong kanji had been used to write Ennoshita’s name. “Shit… I didn’t notice that.”

      Kageyama’s deduction skills were so good that it could be scary at times (then again, Kageyama tended to be scary when he was doing most things). If he’d had some positive legal influences in his life, rather than an abusive father and a landlord who ‘turned a blind eye’, he might’ve ended up being some star detective on the police force or a private investigator making thousands upon thousands a month. Instead, he was in jail.

      “It’s a member of Shiratorizawa who wrote the article. I’ve already spoken to Hinata about it. His friend Numajiri works in a hair salon with a Shiratorizawa member called Reon. Reon says that Semi’s fond of Suga, so it wasn’t him. Semi knew Narita personally too. Shirabu’s more of a leader than a writer. He’s quite tame. He plays it safe. Chances are, he didn’t know about the article. Goshiki’s their newest member. He never knew Narita personally. And, he’s always trying to prove himself. He’s an enthusiastic type. The other members don’t really stand out. So…”

      “You’re saying it’s Goshiki.”

      “I’m not saying that. The evidence is.” Kageyama’s eyes darkened as he crumpled the article up in his hands. “You won’t go down for any murders, Kinoshita. No-one’s going down for anything. The spotlight’s on the Mukankei right now.”

      Kinoshita nodded, throat so dry that he couldn’t even get out an “Mmm” in response. He wasn’t quite used to Kageyama speaking to him one-on-one like this. It was usually Suga or Tsukishima who got to speak to him about plans and stuff, not underdogs like Kinoshita. It was weird. He was a Karasuno member, but he still thought of Kageyama as being some sort of all-powerful deity rather than a teammate.

      “I’m trusting you to relay this message to the others,” Kageyama said, moving to leave Kinoshita’s square. “And, one more thing. When Ennoshita returns from the SHU, you’d better hope that he doesn’t come back to this dorm. If he shows his face here,” Kageyama sliced his arm through thin air, “I’ll kill him. Have a good day, Kinoshita.”

      He walked out of Kinoshita’s square without another word, leaving Kinoshita wide-eyed with shock.

***

      “You’re an idiot,” Aida said, bandaging Towada’s hand injury up. There was a deep burn that was burning hot with blood, making Towada wince with pain every time the pristine bandages touched it. They’d become stained with a crimson red mere seconds later, but Aida continued to bandage until the blood could no longer leak through. “Who the hell grabs a lighter?”

      “Me, I guess.”

      During a fight that had broken out between two Mukankei members, Towada had rushed in and grabbed a lighter in order to stop any fires from starting. It was unusually heroic for a man like Towada. The C.O. had a sheepish grin on his face as he looked up at Aida, admiring how the light hit her face. It made her eyes seem just that bit brighter — in fact, she seemed to be a little more relaxed than she usually was. Only a little though, since her eyebrows were still set in those two serious lines, but her shoulders weren’t so taut now. Perhaps it was because she didn’t have the burden of Takeru and his cronies following her around now, perhaps.

      Aida still had the obvious Kageyama issue to deal with, but Karasuno and Nekoma had remained fairly quiet throughout all the commotion. Not to mention, the article had had no effect on their prison standing whatsoever. There were minor riots happening in the Mukankei dorms, since they needed a new sub-leader, but Aida was planning to get Kageyama to deal with it. She’d conferred with Ukai Ikkei, her boss, and reached the conclusion that trying to dethrone Kageyama at this stage would yield disastrous consequences. So, they’d endure this. They’d endure the countless riots and brawls until everything evened out, until everything reached a state of equilibrium. And then, she’d erase Kageyama.

      “Get a proper doctor to look at that burn,” Aida ordered, letting go of Towada’s hand at last. “I’d send you down to Takeda-sensei, but with everything that’s been going on recently, he’s really being stretched thin.”

      “You remember how you were looking for a medical assistant, right? Maybe you don’t need to look,” Towada suggested, leaning on Aida’s desk. She was sat opposite, and while she frowned at Towada leaning all over her documents, she didn’t say anything. “There’re some pretty decent inmates in here, believe it or not. Our budget’s being stretched pretty thin. Rather than splashing out on a medical assistant, we could use the inmates. Think about it. We have electronic geniuses and medical prodigies wasting away with scum. We can’t let their talents go to waste. I’ll do the necessary checks before anything definite happens, but… it’s your call.”

      “I don’t think I should be trusting you with checks, Towada.”

      Towada might have reacted in offense, but when a smile spread across Aida’s face, he realised that it was just a joke. The business-oriented Aida Riko had actually made a joke. Towada was so taken aback that he almost forgot to respond. He had a dumb look on his face as he nodded, heart pounding hard against his ribcage as he blinked hard, managing to give a friendly smile in response.

      There was a knock at the door before the older Ukai came in, holding a box of chocolates in his hands. “I know this is a bit overdue, but I hear you were able to dismantle Takeru’s little reign at last,” he said to Aida, before turning his attention to Towada. “You too, Towada. I’m happy that I hired you. You two surely will make a change in this prison. So… take this.”

      Aida stood up and accepted the chocolate box with much gusto before delving into a deep conversation with Ukai, the older man asking about Aida’s father while Aida enquired about Ukai’s well-being and spoke on the general state of the prison. Towada, knowing that he wasn’t really welcome to this conversation, quietly excused himself from Aida’s office.

      The second he opened the door however, he laid eyes upon a brawl consisting of twelve inmates, all pulling on each other’s hair and punching and one man who was even trying to stab them with a piece of glass wrapped in fabric. One C.O. lay nearby, countless stab wounds dotting his torso while others lay unconscious, having been unable to stop this riot. More were rushing in, wearing their riot uniforms, and Towada quickly rushed to join in too, tearing one of the inmates away and slamming him up against the wall with a decisive thud before cuffing him to one of the metal pipes. Through the door, he could see a heated argument beginning to ensue between two inmates. One of them from Mukankei Ichi, the other from Mukankei Ni.

      “Towada!” A C.O. ran forward, holding a baton in his hand. “Let’s do it!”

      “Yeah.” He nodded and ran back into the brawl, holding the C.O’s gaze. “Let’s.”

***

      Over the month of June, Tsukishima had been working on rekindling all of his friendships. Much to everyone’s surprise, he’d become more and more involved with religion — Christianity, to be specific — and went to the chapel services every Sunday without fail. Yamaguchi would usually tag along with him as well. It was here that the two of them got to know people outside of Karasuno and Nekoma, and much to their surprise, there were some pretty decent people in Fukurodani. There were old guys who looked like they wouldn’t even hurt a fly, when in fact, they were once key members of the yakuza. Sometimes, whenever Yamaguchi was busy working in the library, Tsukishima would sit with them and they’d tell him their stories while playing a game of blackjack. Once, Tsukishima had asked whether the Bible condoned gambling. The man’s response had been, “It’s not about whether the Bible condones it. It’s about whether Christians condone it. And to that, the answer is no. But as a Christian myself,” he’d said, sliding a card out, “I say yes. It’s your move.”

      It was yet another windy day in Fukurodani when Tsukishima and Yamaguchi were walking outside together, having just left the chapel. The clouds were masking any glimpse of the sun, not to mention, the wind was blowing Yamaguchi’s hair so hard that he felt like it would be ripped off his head any moment. He was hoping that his hair would remain intact — after all, his hair hadn’t really grown ever since his teenage years. If he were to cut it now, the chances of it growing back were slim.

      “We’ve been here for years, and we didn’t realise just how much there is in this prison,” Yamaguchi pondered to himself, holding his hair down with both hands as the two of them walked. “Those guys are in the Mukankei, aren’t they?”

      “Yeah,” Tsukishima responded, “they are.”

      “You know, we’ve always had this idea that the Mukankei are inferior. I mean, that’s the literal meaning of Mukankei. Inferior. Subpar. But those guys, had they been around during our prime, they could’ve stamped us down.”

      Yamaguchi had been in awe when he’d heard the stories of the yakuza, realising just how different the yakuza were from modern gangs. Modern gangs, they killed and plundered for the fun of it. But the yakuza… they at least had a bit more grace than that.

      “We sit around the same table every day. Half of the people at the table hate each other. Half of the time, Kageyama’s not there.”

      “He is,” Yamaguchi responded with raised eyebrows. “Those glasses of yours not working, Tsukki?”

      Tsukishima rolled his eyes. “You know what I mean. He’s there. But, he’s not _there_.”

      When Tsukishima’s only response from Yamaguchi was a blank stare, he sighed and clicked his tongue before continuing to elaborate on his point. “He never really says anything at the table anymore. It’s tense because there’s always someone avoiding someone, someone hunting down someone and so on. Especially since that damn article. It’s awkward because everyone knows that Kinoshita killed Narita. He was an asshole, so I don’t care.”

      Yamaguchi let out a mixture between a gasp and a laugh, although he wasn’t sure why he was surprised by Tsukishima saying that. Narita had been a bit of an asshole; they all knew that. Perhaps it was the fact that Narita was dead, and it wasn’t exactly nice to speak ill of the dead. Then again, Tsukishima had never cared about being ‘nice’.

      “But the Mukankei,” Tsukishima continued, “they’re more like a community. They have their sub-communities, but they’re just like any other community. That’s what Kaiji was saying, anyway. You remember him, right? He’s the guy I play cards with.”

      “Yeah, I remember. That guy’s not too far off the mark.” Yamaguchi let out a laugh. “There’s always something going on when it comes to Karasuno or Nekoma. We’re the most notorious, after all. Makes us trouble magnets and all.”

      “I think… I think I finally understand what Kuroo was talking about.”

      Yamaguchi’s eyes twinkled with some emotion that Tsukishima couldn’t quite identify — perhaps it was curiosity — but Yamaguchi knew not to push the Kuroo subject any further. So, Yamaguchi simply smiled and turned the subject to the weather. It was clear to tell that the sun was there, somewhere — it was just hiding in the clouds. Being shy.

      That day, Goshiki’s body was found dismembered in the cafeteria.

      Someone had gotten to Goshiki before Kageyama could even begin to consider how he’d make his move. And, the sight was grotesque. They’d all gone into the cafeteria for their dinner, and the overhead lights had flickered on. Right in the centre of the cafeteria was Goshiki’s dismembered body, parts of his body laid on each table. On the Mukankei tables. On the Nekoma table. On the Johzenji table. And, on the Karasuno table, there was the man’s heart.

      Kageyama couldn’t help but wonder who had gotten to Goshiki before he could. He ran through some names in his head, feeling slightly resentful that he hadn’t been the one to land the finishing blow. He couldn’t figure out whose killing style this was. It looked like the work of a beginner at first glance, but when you thought about it, it was actually the work of a pro. The kill was designed to look sloppy, but Kageyama could tell that there was a lot behind it. From the placement of the body parts to the blood that was on the floor, Kageyama knew that this was a premeditated kill.

      It was when Kinoshita caught Kageyama’s eye that Kageyama finally realised just who was responsible for the kill. Quiet by nature, but not-so-quiet about his kills.

      Kageyama was unable to help the slight smile that pulled at his lips. Kinoshita really was a worthy Karasuno member. He’d taken out the trash before Kageyama could even concoct a plausible plan.

      “Snitches get stitches,” Kinoshita whispered to Kageyama. “Am I right?”


	22. Is it 'Hoot' or 'Woot'?

Chapter Twenty-Two: Is it ‘Hoot’ or ‘Woot’?

      “I doubt I need to say why I’ve called you in,” Aida said, sitting on top of her desk. She was wearing an unimpressed expression on her face when Kageyama walked in, wearing a nonchalant expression on his face. “Goshiki Tsutomu. I know that you know who’s responsible for his death, Kageyama.”

      Over the course of Friday, Aida had been trying to get to the bottom of Goshiki’s murder. Kageyama had been in medical for his monthly check-up, so he’d been able to avoid any questioning that day. Shiratorizawa had expressed quite a bit of lament over Goshiki’s death, and they were calling for justice. They were all insisting that Kageyama was the one who did it.

      “Oh, is that so? The only thing I know is that his death was untimely. And quite gory, if you ask me. I’d prefer not to have a human heart in my vicinity when I’m eating.”

      “This isn’t a time to crack jokes, Kageyama. I know this isn’t a coincidence,” Aida said, folding her arms together. “Right after I told you that you weren’t to do anything to Shiratorizawa, one of their members get killed. That is not a coincidence. You’re planning something, aren’t you?”

      “Why would I intentionally incriminate myself?”

      “You’re Kageyama Tobio. You have something up your sleeve, don’t you?”

      He raised an eyebrow at her. “I’m glad you think so highly of me, Aida.”

      “Sarcasm won’t help you here. If I don’t get answers, I’ll start digging. And, if I find anything, I won’t hesitate to use it.”

      “Fine. I didn’t really want to admit this, but… Goshiki’s death was out of my control. It was him that wrote the article, not Ennoshita. I worked it out, and I planned to comfort him so that we could reach a compromise for the situation. But, clearly, someone got to him before I could. And, they took a much more radical process than I would’ve liked. Hopefully, we’ll find out who’s responsible for it. That way, Shiratorizawa will get their closure.”

     In Kageyama’s head, he was thinking about how Shiratorizawa’s only way of getting ‘closure’ would be when they died. But, no-one would need to die as long as none of their men published stories on him or his men again. He’d let them off the first time. But, this time? There was a simple motto that described it aptly, said by none other than his right-hand man Suga: “Cross Tobio once… shame on you. Cross him twice? You won’t live to see the consequences. And if you do, God help you if you’re alive to cross him a third time.”

      “I don’t believe you,” Aida stubbornly responded. “Give me one reason why I shouldn’t get Warden involved with this situation.”

      “You’ll be wasting his time,” Kageyama promptly responded. “Karasuno have nothing to do with this event. I can tell you now, we’re not stupid enough to leave body parts lying about. Not that we condone the murder of our fellow inmates, of course.”

      Aida let out a snort. “You’re definitely bullshitting me.”

      “I might’ve murdered in the past, but I’m a changed man.” Kageyama shrugged his shoulders. “I wouldn’t even think about hurting a fly now.”

      “For your sake, I hope that’s true.” Aida sighed before waving her hand, indicating that Kageyama could leave. “You may return to your dorm. Count’s in ten minutes.”

      “Yeah.” Kageyama nodded. “Good luck finding the killer.”

      Aida watched Kageyama leave the room with suspicion in her eyes, letting out a wail of frustration when the door clicked shut at last. She was irritated, so irritated that she felt like the veins in her forehead would pop out any second. She needed Kageyama to control the prison, but she couldn’t exactly let him use the inmates as his puppets. She was at a crossroads, and there didn’t seem to be anyone who could tell her what to do.

      She’d just have to figure it out herself.

***

      “Inmate, you have a visitor.”

      Hinata looked up in surprise when he realised that C.O. Ushijima was speaking to him. Prior to Ushijima’s entrance, Hinata had been about to discuss his Terushima argument with Oikawa, who was currently munching on a chocolate digestive. Hinata was on good terms with the rest of the Johzenji, but Terushima and Hinata hadn’t really spoken to one another since their argument. It troubled Hinata a lot more than he would’ve imagined.

      “Me?”

      “Yes. You are Hinata Shouyou, correct?”

      Again, Hinata nodded, although he was surprised at the news. In all honesty, he’d thought that everyone on the outside had forgotten about him. That was the case for most inmates. Their family and friends would visit for the first few months, but after some time, the visits became few and far between, then it was only on special days like birthdays and anniversaries, and then soon, it was nothing at all.

      “Go ahead, chibi-chan. I’m not going anywhere,” Oikawa said, waving at Hinata. “Have fun.”

      Hinata got up, still in disbelief, and followed after Ushijima. He even forgot to say goodbye to Oikawa, but it didn’t seem to matter. He followed Ushijima down the corridor and all the way to the visiting room. Through the window, he could see a few other inmates in there. Much to his surprise, Kuroo was in there, speaking to another woman with red hair. Hinata was curious to know who it was, but it didn’t matter. He’d finally spotted who had come to visit him.

      “Shou, my bro! It’s been forever!”

      Bokuto had been sitting down, however, upon spotting Hinata, he’d hopped up to his feet and was pumping his fists in the air. Akaashi was also there, although he was better at Bokuto when it came to containing his excitement.

      “At least let him get to the table,” Akaashi scolded.

      “Come on,” Bokuto said, completely ignoring Akaashi. “Get on my shoulders, champ!”

      He sprinted forward and lifted Hinata up before Hinata could even begin to interject, carrying him over to the table they’d chosen for their long-awaited reunion. Once they got there, Bokuto released Hinata and allowed him to walk over to his seat. Bokuto was bouncing in his seat — it was as if he’d swallowed a couple hundred energy drinks before coming here — and Akaashi had his hands on the table, fiddling with his fingertips as he looked at Hinata.

      There was no denying it: Hinata looked quite rough. He had a purplish bruise underneath his jaw (Akaashi had assumed that it was from a fight, but it was actually from Hinata accidentally punching himself while trying to brush his hair) and the dark shadows beneath his eyes were hard to ignore. Akaashi knew that the best thing to do was to avoid asking about what was happening on the inside. Bokuto, however, was too energetic to pay attention to that.

      “Is it true that that Takeru guy forced a prisoner to swallow a dead rat? It was on the news and everything! There was some article that went viral on the internet and it had some stories from these foreigners that were in the same dorm as him. One of them had their ear cut off by him. Yo, you know, did you know him? Were you there when it happened—”

      “Bokuto-san, not to be rude, but shut up.”

      “Aww, come on, ‘Kaashee. I’m just asking some questions,” Bokuto insisted. “What was Takeru like? Was he cool? I saw him on the news. He was pretty wild-looking. Facial tattoos and piercings. Gnarly. Did you ever speak to him? Or, did you even get to witness some of the cool things he did? Come on, come on. Tell me.”

      “Fine,” Hinata said, placing both hands on the table with a calm demeanour. “I’ll tell you.”

      Even as he began to speak, Bokuto and Akaashi were able to tell that something was wrong with Hinata’s tone.

      “Takeru tried to kill me,” Hinata began, almost tempted to laugh at how stupid it all seemed. And it was funny to him, in some sort of morbid way. He’d been living in fear of Takeru for so long that his fear had morphed into some sort of weird humour. He didn’t know how to describe it, not really. “It was probably his umpteenth murder attempt on me, now that I think of it. This attempt was with a garden fork. And when he failed, he stabbed a C.O. to death right before my eyes. Blood. It was everywhere, on his hands, on the floor. And then he covered me in it. Forced me to chop up his body. I see it in my dreams every night. So yes, Bokuto. It’s gnarly. The trauma it’s caused me is cool. And yes, he was wild-looking. I hope that answered your question. And I’m fine, thanks for asking.”

      It was strange. He’d been agonising over telling his prison friends that he’d done such a thing, but now he was reeling off the event to Bokuto and Akaashi as if it were nothing. It didn’t really mean anything to Hinata anymore. They were on the outside, so it wouldn’t affect them. The outside had seemed like a big place, but for Hinata, Fukurodani was a roaming ground for demons, danger and disaster.

      “I’m… I’m sorry, bro. I didn’t mean to… you know… offend you or anything.” Bokuto now seemed to be mirroring Akaashi’s nervous finger fiddling, although he probably didn’t even realise he was doing it. “Uh… I’m sorry it took us so long to come and visit you too. Coach has been keeping us busy. The only reason we were able to get away today is because we said that our dog had died. We don’t have a dog.” Bokuto laughed at himself, Akaashi cracking a smile, but Hinata was still sat there with the same impassive expression on his face. They were right in front of Hinata, but it still felt like they were miles away from him.

      “All the episodes of Haikyuu Season 2 are out as well,” Bokuto continued when he received no response. “Say, you know they’re making an anime adaptation of Boku no Hero Academia? I can’t remember when it’s coming out, but it should be pretty soon…”

      “I stopped reading that.”

      “Really? You were obsessed with the manga though,” Bokuto said, his eyes wide. “You even had the Nendoroids and stuff for your birthday last year. Hey, speaking of your birthday, we missed it! You should’ve phoned us. We would’ve got the whole team to sing happy birthday! How was your birthday?”

      Hinata felt like he was about to throw up. And he probably would’ve, if not for the intervention of a certain rooster-headed male.

      “I know you,” Kuroo said, pointing at Bokuto. Kuroo had wanted to distract himself from his own visit, so he’d excused himself in order to come to bother Hinata. From what he’d seen, Hinata wasn’t faring too well with his visit either. “I swear you’re that guy on YouTube who makes owl whisperer videos.”

      “Yeah, bro! It’s always nice to meet a fan!” The two high-fived, and then Kuroo turned his attention to Akaashi. “You made a feature in one of the videos too, huh? What was it, ‘Kaashee?”

      Akaashi had a confused expression on his face, but eventually mustered a response. “I’m Akaashi Keiji. Who are you?”

      “He’s a fan, Akaashi,” Bokuto said. “Fan.”

      “I understood you the first time, Bokuto-san.”

      “It’s Kuroo Tetsurou, but you can call me your number one fan.”

      Grinning, Bokuto pulled out a marker pen from his pocket. “Hey bro, you want an autograph?”

      “Yeah!” All of a sudden, Kuroo lifted up his shirt and turned around, kneeling down so that Bokuto could autograph his back. “As big as you can, man.”

      Hinata and Akaashi exchanged worried expressions. No doubt, they were both having the same thought. Letting these two meet each other was a mistake.

      “Whoo!” Kuroo fist-pumped the air and wheeled back around. “That feels rad.”

      “Totally, dude.” Bokuto grinned and began to gesture with his hands. “By the way, you know your hair? You should drop a tutorial on it. It’s sick.”

      “Ah, Bokuto. This isn’t something you can achieve with a mere tutorial. It takes time, effort and style. I’m not just talking simple style either, man. I’m talking Sakamoto style.” He flicked his hair out of his eyes, only for it to wisp its way back into place moments later. “Your hair though, man. Would you drop a tutorial on that?”

      “I did. Although, I guess you guys don’t get internet in this place. Yo, Akaashi,” Bokuto said, pulling on the raven-haired man’s shoulder, “we should totally make a petition for these guys to have internet. I could reach to a wider demographic, you know! Numbers and shit!”

      “Numbers!” Kuroo fist-pumped the air again, earning himself a side-eye from one of the C.Os in the room. “Man, I would definitely be on board with that petition. I’ll sign it, bro.”

      “Hello,” Hinata said at last, waving his hands at no-one in particular. “I’m pretty sure this was meant to be my visit? Have you guys even met each other before?”

      Hinata couldn’t believe how well Kuroo and Bokuto were getting along. If anything, he thought it was ridiculous. He’d been on the same team as Bokuto for years and he didn’t even know that Bokuto ran his own YouTube channel. Just how much was there that he didn’t know?

      “Nope,” they both responded at the same time.

      “Yo, dude. You need to put me on your visitation,” Bokuto said, this time to Kuroo.

      “Yeah, man. I’ll tell my counsellor.”

      “How many years you got left?”

      “Thirty-three. I would’ve had twenty-eight, but I got five years added after this whole gang rivalry thing,” Kuroo explained, thinking back to the whole event. Coincidentally enough, it had been in the same time frame as Hinata’s arrival. “It’s all a long story. Lots of fighting, pissy C.Os who apparently can’t handle being told to kiss my ass, and… yeah. You get the point.”

      Bokuto grinned. “Yo, so when you’re out, we’ll go out for some grandpa drinking. You know? It’s when you’re a grandpa. But you drink. You don’t just drink, but you drink in a bar. It’s meant to be super cool.”

      “Yeah, bro. You know, I can hold my alcohol.”

      “Oh, no. When it comes to alcohol, I’m unrivalled. Right, ‘Kaashee?”

      “You got drunk after one glass of sake,” Akaashi responded without missing a beat. “Not even beer. Sake.”

      “Aha!” Kuroo pointed at Bokuto. “Caught you out, bro!”

      “Inmate,” C.O. Ushjima said, intervening at last. Hinata’s guess was that Ushijima had gotten tired of all the yo-ing and the bro-ing, especially considering his next few words. “This isn’t your visit. Get out.”

      “Aw, bro! Let him stay,” Bokuto pleaded. “Come on.”

      “Nah, it’s cool,” Kuroo said, shrugging his shoulders. “I’ll get a shot if I don’t leave. Well, bro. I’ll make sure to put you on my visitation.”

      “Yeah, bro.” Bokuto held up his fist for a fist bump, which Kuroo returned with ease. “Peace.”

      “Peace.” Kuroo disappeared from the visitation room at last. Suddenly, without Kuroo’s presence, the visitation room was somewhat lacking in energy. Usually, Hinata would be more than able to make up for energy, but right now he was closer to Akaashi in terms of energy.

      “Is that guy your friend?” Bokuto asked.

      “Yeah. We work on the garden together,” Hinata responded.

      “Is he any more than a friend?” Bokuto began to wiggle his eyebrows at Hinata.

      Hinata sighed. “No, he’s not.”

      “You found any looove behind bars yet?”

      “I’m pretty sure people don’t go to prison to fall in love, Bokuto-san.”

      “Nonsense, ‘Kaashee! Falling in love is all part of the prison experience! Shouyou, you could walk up to anyone in this room and make them fall in love with you.” Bokuto’s eyes searched the room before settling on a certain individual at last. “Say, what about him? He looks pretty dapper for a prisoner. That undercut is popping. You know, it’s kind of like yours. Oh, by the way, I forgot! Your undercut looks good. Maybe I should come to prison. Get myself a cool undercut in exchange for a pack of ciggies. Is that what you guys trade nowadays?”

      Hinata’s eyes followed Bokuto’s, only for them to widen when he realised who Bokuto had picked out. Terushima. He was sitting at the visitation table, speaking to a woman who had similar facial features to him. She had mousy hair tied back in a ponytail, along with calm brown eyes. It didn’t take a genius to figure out that the woman was Terushima’s mother. However, judging by the perplexed expression on Terushima’s face, his meeting didn’t seem to be going too well. Suddenly, Hinata could feel his conscience beginning to weigh him down.

      “Bokuto, shut up.”

      “Ooh, are you considering it—”

      “No, Bokuto. I’m not. I just want to serve my time. That’s it.”

      “Oh.” Bokuto finally shut up, folding his arms and pressing his lips together to prevent himself from speaking. It seemed that whatever he said would just make Hinata even more irritable.

      Finally, Akaashi decided on a sensible topic to speak about. “Shouyou, you remember Sakanoshita? They’re opening in a new location. They’ve become more popular in recent months,” he said. “You were always saying that they deserved more attention.”

      “Really?” Hinata felt himself beginning to relax slightly at the news. “That’s nice. How’s the owner doing?”

      “Oh, he’s great. His wife recently gave birth to a baby girl.”

      “A baby girl? Woah,” Hinata said, genuinely happy to hear this. “You got pictures?”

      “Of course. We had to leave our phones before coming in though, so I can’t show you. By the way, her name’s Ai.”

      “Ai? What a cute name! I bet she’s the most adorable thing ever…”

      “Oh, she is.” Akaashi had a wide smile on his face just thinking about it. “She has these big blue eyes and she’s always smiling. You know how babies like to cry a lot? She doesn’t cry. She’s a very happy baby.”

      Bokuto was watching the two fangirl over the baby with a perplexed expression on his face. He watched Hinata in particular, who seemed to be genuinely interested over the topic of babies. He was confused. Hinata had never once cared about babies and wives and names and kids. He’d only ever thought about volleyball and manga and anime and curry buns. Just what the hell had happened to trigger such a change in Hinata?

      It wouldn’t be until they left that Bokuto realised why Hinata had changed so much. It was because he needed some happy news, something positive that his mind could cling onto.

      “Bokuto-san, from now on, we need to come visit him more often.” Akaashi and Bokuto were in the car, making their way back home after spending the past hour speaking about babies and all the things that babies did. “Or at least, I want to come down and visit him myself. If you ask him stupid questions, it’ll make him sad.”

      “I still care,” Bokuto insisted. “I just don’t know what to say without upsetting him. Was he always so sensitive?”

      “Prison does that to people, Bokuto-san.” Bokuto was somehow able to refrain from reminding Akaashi that people usually toughened up in prison, not down. “I still can’t believe you asked him about that Takeru guy…”

      “I apologised.”

      Akaashi rolled his eyes, but didn’t argue the point any further.

      After all, he needed to focus on the road.

***

      Hinata had been hurrying down to the King’s Palace when he bumped into a certain blonde. A certain blonde with piercings, an undercut and the name Terushima Yuuji. The two looked at each other, Terushima with an awkward expression on his face. Then, before Hinata could speak, Terushima moved out of Hinata’s way and continued to walk down the corridor.

      “Wait, Terushima.” Hinata had grabbed Terushima’s wrist without thinking.

      The blonde turned around, staring down at Hinata’s hand which was clamped to his wrist.

      “S—Sorry,” Hinata stuttered, letting go of Terushima’s wrist. Things had been awkward between them ever since that day outside. Terushima wouldn’t even sleep in the same square as Hinata anymore. He’d swapped with Bobata, who had been kind enough not to pry into the reasons why. “I just… we need to talk.”

      Terushima looked back up, swiping some small stands of hair from his forehead. “What about?”

      “I still want to be friends,” Hinata said. “I don’t want this to split us apart.”

      Terushima stood there, mulling over Hinata’s words for a few moments. Then, he smiled and shrugged his shoulders. “Whatever you say, Hinata. See you later.”

      Hinata was shocked when Terushima continued to make his way down the corridor, showing no signs of turning back or stopping. He’d been expecting a long, meaningful conversation about Monday’s events or even just a conversation about how Terushima was doing, but instead, Terushima had walked away from him without another word to spare. Besides, what did that even mean? ‘Whatever you say’?

      “So annoying!”

      Hinata stomped off once more, heading in the direction of the King’s Palace.

      Hinata briskly knocked on Kageyama’s door upon arriving, twisting the handle when Kageyama yelled “Enter”. When he entered, he could see that Kageyama was staring down at his hands, deep in thought. It was evident that he hadn’t been sleeping much. Hinata couldn’t blame him, though. Kageyama had been stretched so thin these past few days that Hinata was surprised that he hadn’t snapped in two yet.

      “I don’t really have any food to offer,” Kageyama admitted at last, letting out a huge sigh as he gathered his face in his hands. “I’ve been so busy. I’m sorry.”

      “Hey, Kageyama. It’s fine. I’m not here to eat,” Hinata said, leaning his head on Kageyama’s shoulder. “I just want to know if you’re okay.”

      “I don’t know,” Kageyama said at last, removing his hands from his face. He was fiddling with them in his lap, staring down for some moments more before he spoke. “I’m just… I think I need to be alone right now.”

      Hinata couldn’t help the sharp note of disappointment that pierced him. However, that disappointment was quickly followed by resentment at his own clinginess.

      Hinata forced a smile onto his face and nodded, trying not to make his disappointment too obvious. Kageyama had enough on his plate. Ennoshita betraying him, Aida being suspicious of him, not to mention, he still seemed to be broken up about the newsletter poll. The last thing Kageyama needed was Hinata to add a heap of seasoning on top of the plate.

      “Yeah. I understand,” Hinata said. “Just let me know if there’s anything I can do.”

      “There is something,” Kageyama said at last as he looked up to regard Hinata, noticing that the smile on his face was fake. He’d seen a genuine smile on Hinata’s face many a time, and that wasn’t one of them.

      “What is it?”

      “Wake up early tomorrow,” Kageyama ordered. “You’re running with me and Suga on the track.”

      He hadn’t intended to sound so bossy — in fact, he’d been preparing himself for some loud protesting from Hinata, as was always the case with the two of them. Kageyama making orders and Hinata protesting each and every one of them. That’s why he was taken aback when Hinata’s face brightened with overt joy, his barren eyes beginning to flood with light. Kageyama felt a flush beginning to creep up his neck as he muttered an “idiot” mere moments later.

      After three minutes of happy staring from Hinata, Kageyama was starting to realise that Hinata would continue to look at him like that until he said something.

      “Why are you so happy, anyway? All I did was ask you to run,” Kageyama muttered. He’d gone so red that he was pretty damn sure that Hinata was internally laughing at him right now. If anything, it was a miracle that Hinata wasn’t poking his cheeks and making jokes yet.

      “Because,” Hinata smiled, wrapping his arms around Kageyama, “I like being with you. But, you want to be alone, so you know… I’ll get out of your hair—”

      “No,” Kageyama said, knowing damn well what angle Hinata was working. “Stay here. But… don’t be annoying. I’ll kick you out if you irritate me.”

      Hinata hugged Kageyama even tighter. “Understood!”

***

      That night in the Johzenji dorm, Terushima finally moved back to the square that he shared with Hinata. Hinata had been sitting on top of his futon and eating a bag of Spicy Cheetos when Terushima entered, back slouched with a pair of attentive eyes trained on some sort of manga volume.

      “Hey,” Hinata said, waving to catch Terushima’s attention. When Terushima looked over in his direction, he continued to speak while holding out the bag of Cheetos. “Want some?”

      Terushima looked at the bag of Spicy Cheetos, thought for a few moments and then nodded. He walked over to Hinata and crouched down, grabbing a handful of Spicy Cheetos and shoving them down his throat in one go. Clearly, Terushima was still a slob, and the sight made Hinata let out a little chuckle.

      “Hey, Hinata,” Terushima said at last, “About last month… I wanted to apologise for piling that all on you. It was selfish of me to pile my feelings on you like that.”

      “No,” Hinata said, shaking his head. “It would’ve been selfish for me to ask you to keep it in.”

      “You need the support of your friends more than ever right now,” he began, taking another handful of Spicy Cheetos, “so I’ll be a friend. Nothing more, nothing less. That good?”

      “Course,” Hinata said, grinning in Terushima’s direction.

      “Of course, I’m also willing to listen to you vent about relationship problems. I’ll get over it, you know. Lots of other fish in the sea.”

      It sounded like Terushima was trying to convince himself rather than Hinata, but the latter didn’t bother to point that out. He simply shrugged and nodded.

      “Yeah. We’re all playing Uno in twenty minutes, by the way. You going to join in?”

      Terushima shook his head. “Nah. I’m beat. I’m going to catch some shut-eye. Have fun, though.”

      He got up and made his way back to his own futon, settling down and turning so that he was facing the wall rather than Hinata. Hinata frowned as he got up, not liking this sudden wall between him and Terushima. It felt like Terushima was somewhat restraining himself around Hinata, restraining his true thoughts and emotions. Terushima might not have been avoiding him anymore, but there was still a large distance between the two of them. It made sense.

      Hinata knew one thing — it would be a while before his friendship with Terushima went back to normal.


	23. Prison's Philosopher

Chapter Twenty-Three: Prison’s Philosopher

      When Hinata woke up around six in the morning, he was shocked when he heard sniffling coming from Terushima’s side of the square. There was no doubt about it—Terushima was crying. Hinata sat there, overcome with guilt that he might be the reason for those tears.

      “Terushima?”

      There was silence at first. Then, some shuffling which Hinata interpreted as Terushima doing his best to wipe away his tears. Then, at last, there was a sigh as Terushima twisted his body around so that he was facing Hinata.

      “What’s up?”

      “That’s what I wanted to ask you,” Hinata said, unable to believe how quickly Terushima had been able to make himself look normal. Looking at him, you wouldn’t be able to tell that he’d just been crying. Hinata, on the other hand, went all red whenever he cried.

      “Well, I slept a little awkwardly. But I’m good!”

      Hinata sighed. “Come on. I heard you crying.”

      “Crying? Me? You’ve got me mixed up with someone,” Terushima joked, a lazy grin on his face as per usual. “I wasn’t crying. I’m cool.”

      “Terushima.” Hinata stared him down until the blonde relented, brushing his messy hair back and letting out a sigh.

      “Fine. I was. But I swear, only one tear came out. One. Not even that. One quarter. 0.1 percent of a tear. 0.001 percent of a tear. So teeny that it doesn’t even count. Therefore, I wasn’t _crying_ crying.”

      Hinata knew damn well this was a bluff. He’d listened to Terushima cry for a good five minutes before speaking up. But, he didn’t bother to inform Terushima of this.

      “Okay, okay. I believe you.” Hinata shuffled forwards, not wanting to actually stand up and move. “Wanna talk about it?”

      Terushima shook his head. “Not particularly.”

      “Sure?” Hinata tapped Terushima’s forehead. “You’re okay?”

      Terushima smiled for all but five seconds before breaking down in tears, shaking his head vehemently. “No, damnit. I’m not,” he said, his voice thick with emotion. “My visitation. My mom came to visit me. And… she—no, my—my brother. He’s dead. His funeral was last month. She only just thought to come and tell me.”

      And Terushima was in a fresh burst of tears, the tears dripping down his cheeks and onto his blanket. Hinata was so taken aback that he didn’t react for a few moments, but then he shifted forwards and hugged Terushima, hoping that it would help to comfort him.

      “He was disowned from our family. He died in some shitty little apartment from some shitty little heart attack and his body’s in some shitty little graveyard. He was only twenty-eight,” Terushima practically yelled, “and he was on his own when he died. What a shitty way to die…”

      Terushima didn’t speak after that. He continued to empty out his tear ducts on Hinata’s shoulder, gulping every now and again, but otherwise remaining quiet. Hinata could understand Terushima’s grief, though. If his little sister were to die… Hinata didn’t know what he’d do. Honestly, he wanted nothing more than to speak to Natsu and make sure that she was doing okay without her big brother, but his mother had forbidden him from calling home. Natsu couldn’t know that Hinata was in prison. She just thought that Hinata had gone on a “long trip”. And, it had to stay that way. Therefore, he wasn’t allowed to call home.

      “When you’re ready, let’s go to the rec room,” Hinata suggested. “They got some new art products in there. We can draw things. Self-portraits. Clouds. Celebrities.”

      Terushima didn’t respond at first, but at last, he said one thing. “Dicks?”

      Hinata laughed. “If you want. Draw as many dicks as you like, Terushima.”

      “Alright. I’ll get off your shoulder now.” He pulled himself out of Hinata’s arms and wiped any stray tears away, a perplexed expression on his face for a couple of seconds. Then, he was smiling once again. “Forget the past ten minutes just happened. I don’t want to break my streak of not crying. Let’s walk to the rec room.”

      “Yeah, yeah,” Hinata said, getting up and beginning to walk alongside Terushima. “Alright, Sir Edgelord.”

      “Hey, shut up. You want edgy, try Numajiri. Homeboy’s still stuck in his emo phase. You know what he once said?” He cleared his throat before putting on his best Numajiri voice. “You snip hair, and hair is someone’s lifeline. You’re cutting them short. And in a way, you decide whether their life is worth living or not. So, barbers are the difference between life and death.” Terushima let out a loud snort of laughter, promptly switching back into his own voice. “He’s such a fake philosopher.”

      “Socrates wishes he could be like Numajiri,” Hinata joked in response.

      “Actually, now that I think of it, there was this one famous quote that Socrates said. Something about life not being worth living? Wait. Maybe Numajiri’s secretly Socrates.” Terushima paused for a few moments, genuinely considering the possibility of Numajiri being an undercover Socrates. “Jesus Christ. You know I smoke weed too often when I say weed things without even being high.”

      “An unexamined life is not worth living. I’m pretty sure that’s the quote. So, yeah. Numajiri could definitely play Socrates,” Hinata said, coming to a stop when he noticed that someone had decided to create their version of ‘art’ on the prison walls. Someone had drawn a very graphic-looking phallus. It had been dubbed ‘The Mukankei Monster’ and it was even complete with a hand accompanying it. The hand had been called ‘Karasuno’. It was making a statement — not in the most child-friendly way, but it was making a statement.

      “That’s a cool drawing,” Terushima said, following Hinata’s gaze. “If only these were the kind of sources they gave us in history class. Look at Source A. How far do you agree that Karasuno is a threat to this prison?”

      “I think it’s saying that Karasuno wants to make the Mukankei happy. They want to appease the Mukankei,” Hinata said, memories of history class coming to haunt him once more. “So, I don’t think Karasuno is a threat at all. If anything, Karasuno gives the people more power!”

      “I don’t think that’s what they were going for,” Terushima said. He was smiling, but his tone seemed quite serious. “I think it’s more of a ‘Karasuno are milking us for everything we have and then leaving us limp’ kind of situation. They tame the monster, then reap it for everything it owns before it can become wild once more.”

      “Hmm… I guess I can understand that,” Hinata said, beginning to walk once again. Terushima followed by his side, somewhat surprised by the fact that Hinata hadn’t argued the point. It had been a fairly risky topic, but it didn’t seem like either of them wanted to start an argument. Not when they’d finally gotten over that awkward phase which had stretched on for an age.

      “Terushima. You know what we should do? A talent show,” Hinata suggested, inspired by the drawing he’d just seen. “You can do your trick of tying cherry stalks with your tongue. I can’t really do anything, but…”

      “Nonsense! Remember a couple of months ago when all of us were in the bathroom and we were belly-dancing after having our showers? You were pretty good at that,” Terushima recalled, wiggling his body as the two continued to walk down the corridor. “I’d vote for you if you did it in a talent show.”

      “Belly-dancing. Wow.” Hinata snorted. “I was just messing around.”

      “You’re actually good at it, though. You know, you know your body. You move well.” Terushima internally face-palmed, worried that Hinata would find him weird for saying that, but when he heard Hinata laugh, that worry faded away.

      “ _You know your body_. Well, Terushima. You’re definitely no Socrates.”

      “Course not. I’m in my own league. The Terushima Yuuji League.”

      They were now standing outside the rec room, which was fairly empty. There were lots of art supplies there for the using. Felt pens, coloured paper and blunt colouring pencils. The prison wouldn’t give them sharpeners. Or sharper pencils. Or anything sharp, really. Even the coloured paper had rounded edges.

      “Alright, Hinata. Let’s draw some dicks!”

***

      “I thought you said Hinata was coming today,” Suga said, walking off the track with Kageyama. They’d been running for the past two hours, speaking about their ‘special project’ and their plans for when Asahi, Nishinoya, Tanaka and Yamamoto returned to the prison at last. Kageyama hadn’t seen a glimpse of orange hair at all during the past two hours.

      “I guess he overslept,” Kageyama said, shrugging his shoulders. “It’s alright.”

      “How are things with you guys?” Suga wiggled his eyebrows, began to nudge Kageyama. “You in _looove_ with him yet? Deep love? Loveity-love-love? Want some relationship advice?”

      Kageyama cringed. “Please don’t do that. You sound like Kuroo.”

      “Ah, yeah! I dropped by the garden yesterday to buy some tomatoes from Kuroo. They’re good, you know. I sliced some and put them in that slop they sometimes give us at lunch and it made it taste so much better. Kuroo’s got a way with plants.”

      Before Kageyama could slip in a not-so-nice comment about Kuroo, Suga grabbed Kageyama’s wrist and began to pull Kageyama in the direction of the prison building. “I just remembered. We need to go to the rec room. Yamaguchi’s in there playing cards with the Mukankei. Some guy gave me a set of cards to pass on to Yamaguchi.”

      “Wait, why do I have to come? I want to take a shower,” Kageyama insisted.

      “Just because. Plus, it’s not like we can’t shower after going to the rec room.”

      “Yeah, but I want to finish showering before you come in and start singing Beyoncé at top volume. Some of us like to think when we’re showering, you know.”

      “All you do is think,” Suga complained. “You should loosen up and sing a bit! Actually, you know what? I’ll teach you some of her lyrics. Pick a song. Formation? If I Were a Boy? 1+1? Halo?”

      “I’ll turn back, you know.”

      “Fine.” Suga pouted. “You’re missing out though.”

      The two were silent for the remainder of the walk to the rec room, the inmates in the corridor moving out of the way to make room for them. Some people waved at Suga, but most seemed too terrified of Kageyama to even come near them. It wasn’t too long before they reached the blue door. For Kageyama, it was pretty unfamiliar, but Suga was used to coming down here.

      With one push, it opened, allowing the two of them to walk in. And, the first thing Kageyama saw was Hinata. He was sitting with Terushima, but he wasn’t just sitting there. He was holding a sheet of paper next to Terushima’s face, one hand on the paper and the other clamped to Terushima’s cheek.

      “It looks so much like you!” Hinata let out a loud giggle when Terushima launched a pencil at his face in response. Terushima rolled his eyes at Hinata, although he had a smile on his face. The two of them looked like a couple. And judging by the way Terushima was gazing at Hinata as if he were the sun incarnate, Terushima clearly wanted to make Hinata his.

      “I can smell your jealousy from miles away,” Suga said, looking around the rec room once more. Yamaguchi wasn’t in there, not yet. Kageyama was taken aback by the fact that Hinata and Terushima hadn’t even noticed him standing there. They were too busy making stupid jokes and doodling random things on sheets of coloured paper. Kageyama could feel his teeth grinding together, his feet beginning to move without him asking them to.

      “Hey, hey, hey,” Suga said, grabbing Kageyama by the shoulder and twisting him around. “Let the man have his friends, Tobio. Come on. Let’s go.”

      Kageyama wasn’t impressed in the least. He wanted to go and give Terushima a piece of his mind. No, not only that. He wanted to go and claim Hinata. He wouldn’t go as far as snogging Hinata’s face off — kissing was gross — but he couldn’t just stand here and watch some Johzenji predator try and take Hinata from him. It was one thing for Hinata to spend time with Terushima. It was another for Hinata to blow him off for Terushima, considering they already spend all day in the same dorm. Together. Hell, they even share the same square.

      “I just want to go say something—”

      “Nope,” Suga said, continuing to pull Kageyama out of the room. “We’re going, Tobio.”

      “But—”

      “Nope. Come on. Let’s go one week without any confrontations,” Suga insisted, lowering his tone so that no passers-by could hear them. “Next week should be quiet, now that everyone’s had their chance to blow off steam. Ennoshita’s gone. Goshiki’s gone. Takeru’s gone. There’s no-one in this prison that can threaten our safety. You’ve still got Aida in your front pocket too.”

      “Barely. It’s Towada who’s in my front pocket. Aida would be the person who made the pocket. She’s tough…” Kageyama frowned at the thought of it. “I can’t exactly use her.”

      “Well, that can be remedied.” Suga let Kageyama’s elbow go when he was convinced that he wouldn’t try and sprint back to the rec room to start a fight with Terushima. “By the time Nishinoya and the others come back,” he said, a smile spreading across his face, “we’ll be insurmountable.”

***

      Suga had been right. The next few days were fairly quiet. Kageyama brooded to himself, jealous that Hinata was spending more and more time with Terushima. He’d even seen them practicing martial arts outside the other day, for God’s sake. He was occupied with his Aida meetings and a certain project he was working on with Suga, but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t allocate time to think about how damn jealous he felt.

      It wasn’t long before Saturday rolled up on his radar, the same day that the woman named ‘Autumn’ was meant to be coming in. However, when Kageyama had gone to visitation, there was no woman called Autumn who had turned up. He didn’t have a number either, so he couldn’t phone her to see what was going on. He was still irritated that some faceless woman had been able to find out so much about him, but for now, she was the least of his concerns.

      At least, that’s what he told himself. On Sunday, she didn’t turn up either. He saw Suga with Keishin, although he didn’t hear what the two were discussing. In his peripheral, he could see someone sneaking an item underneath the table. _Of course. Contraband_. That person was caught almost instantly and reprimanded, but not much else happened.

      With a sigh, Kageyama turned back out and made his way over to the chapel. It had been a while since Kageyama had last stepped inside this chapel. He hadn’t been having many meetings with Karasuno recently. There was nothing to talk about, considering how small their group had become. Three had died. Three were still in the process of being transferred back to Fukurodani. And, one was in the SHU. With only five Karasuno members left in Fukurodani, it felt somewhat empty.

      When Kageyama made it to the chapel, he invited himself through the wooden door which had been left ajar. Shiratorizawa were sat at the front. The chapel was surprisingly full, many Mukankei members holding Bibles and some speaking quietly amongst themselves. Tsukishima and Yamaguchi were sitting on a separate pew, eyes on the man at the front. The man doing the sermon appeared to be a prominent member of the Mukankei, although Kageyama wouldn’t be able to tell you his name.

      “Hello, little lamb,” he said, spreading his arms out. “Are you here to bask in the glory of the Lord?”

      “Not really.” Kageyama frowned. “I just need to borrow Tsukishima.”

      “I’ve already begun the sermon,” the man insisted, shaking his finger. “You can’t borrow him. You’ll get in the way of his path to the Promised Land. The land that the Lord God himself promised to all us faithful followers—”

      “That’s nice, but I’m borrowing him. Tsukishima,” Kageyama said, looking over at where the blonde was sitting. “We have business to deal with.”

      Tsukishima turned his head. “You need to wait. I’m busy.”

      Kageyama let out a sigh of exasperation. “You can’t be serious.”

      Kageyama, just like the other members of Karasuno and Nekoma, had thought that the whole religion thing was some sort of coping mechanism for Tsukishima after his break-up with Kuroo. This phase of Tsukishima’s had been lasting a lot longer than Kageyama would’ve liked. It wasn’t good. There was always the risk that Tsukishima would suddenly tap into his morality and refuse to do gang business. And if that happened, Karasuno’s empire would begin to collapse.

      “You should sit in too. Get in touch with your spirituality,” one Mukankei member suggested, looking oddly peaceful. “The light’s coming through the windows. It’s like we’re being blessed.”

      “Yes, my little lamb. That’s the spirit of God blessing us all. He gave us the light, and He gave us these eyes that we’re using to appreciate His creation.”

      Kageyama had to fight the urge to roll his eyes. He didn’t have anything against religion, but he found it hard to believe that they weren’t over-exaggerating this.

      “The Lord has more than enough blessings to hand out, little lamb. Please,” the pastor said, placing a hand on Kageyama’s shoulder. Kageyama stepped back before the hand could land, but it still hovered above the sleeve of his shirt. “Sit in with our sermon.”

      Kageyama sighed once again. He was slightly irritated that this man was daring to give him orders, but not irritated enough that he felt like causing a scene in front of all of these people. Complying was the last thing he wanted to do, but he needed to speak to Tsukishima before he did anything else. Why was Tsukishima even refusing his orders, anyway? Wasn’t Tsukishima meant to do what he said?

      “Alright,” Kageyama said at last, moving to sit down. He was stopped however when he felt the pastor grabbing his arm. Kageyama wheeled around once more, pulling his arm out of the pastor’s grasp, but the pastor didn’t appear to be fazed by Kageyama’s unfriendliness. He was still donning his God-given smile, along with the homemade cross necklace around his neck.

      “Why not sit with our other newcomers? You can all follow the path of the Lord together,” he suggested, not giving Kageyama a chance to respond. He was already being led over to a pew full of Mukankei members and being made to sit down. Kageyama felt incredibly self-conscious with all the eyes on him. He could guarantee that eighty percent of the people in this chapel hated him, and that was being generous. Ninety-five might’ve been a more accurate estimate.

      “Alright, my little lambs!” The pastor was now stood at the front, and all eyes were on him rather than Kageyama. Kageyama relaxed ever-so-slightly, thinking that maybe this sermon wouldn’t be too bad. “Let’s begin with singing some hymns to our Lord. On your feet!”

      _Oh, for fuck’s sake. No-one told him that he had to sing_.

      Kageyama stood up, although he really wanted nothing more than to walk out. He was even eyeing up the door in his peripheral vision, but there was a stocky inmate next to him who was blocking his path. It didn’t look like that inmate planned on moving out of his way, either, judging by how he hopped up to his feet as fast as he could (which wasn’t very fast at all) and began to sing the hymn at the exact same time as the pastor. His double chins were hopping up and down energetically as he sang, his voice surprisingly strong as he did so.

      “Amazing grace,” the pastor prompted, the rest of the ‘lambs’ beginning to follow along.

      “How sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me…”

      “Louder,” the pastor insisted. “Let’s make sure that the Lord can hear every last word! How sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me…”

      Everyone sang along, their voices filling the chapel with sound. It wasn’t noise. It was sound. Everyone was in time, everyone knew the lyrics. Even the newcomers. All Kageyama could do was stand there, thinking about how he’d boxed himself into a corner. Yamaguchi was singing along with some other Mukankei members, smiling and making sure they were all in time. Tsukishima was doing the same (minus the smiling) and to Kageyama’s surprise, he was actually singing rather than miming the words out with his lips. Tsukishima’s singing voice wasn’t the best (Kageyama had to wonder whether Tsukishima was really trying) but he seemed somewhat capable of carrying a basic tune. Either way, Kageyama had noticed one crucial thing in these mere minutes. All the members of Karasuno had friends and hobbies outside of Karasuno. After years of being a secluded gang, only ever having each other and Nekoma as company, they were all finally beginning to branch out. Everyone except Kageyama, of course.

      Did having Hinata in his life count as branching out?

      Hardly. He barely even saw Hinata nowadays, thanks to that stupid Johzenji pothead with blonde hair. Why should Kageyama even dignify him with a name? Why should Kageyama even consider branching out to people like Terushima? Hinata had suggested it, but Kageyama knew that he could never do such a thing. Karasuno wasn’t a mixing pot for the likes of the Johzenji.

      “ _I once was lost, but now am found_ …”

      “ _Was blind, but now I see_ …”

      Without another word, Kageyama pushed the stocky inmate out of the way and walked out of the chapel, no longer able to handle the thoughts in his head. It didn’t matter what his thought process told him. Nothing would change, nothing at all. Redemption. What a joke. People like Kageyama didn’t get redemption. At this point, all that was waiting for him beyond the afterlife was an eternity in flames and hellfire. And, for him, that was absolutely okay. He’d accepted that fact long ago.

      He wasn’t sure where he was walking, to be honest. He was just letting his feet carry him wherever. His arms were swinging by his sides and his heart was beating to its usual cadence. And of course, the sun was yet again veiled by the clouds.

      For some reason, his feet had carried him to the blue door reading ‘Counsellor Oikawa’. Before he could really think about what he was doing, he was inviting himself into Oikawa’s office and sitting in front of the brown-haired counsellor who was grinning like a Cheshire Cat. Kageyama even felt himself reaching out for a chocolate digestive from the plate which seemed to live on Oikawa’s desk. He didn’t even like chocolate digestives, for God’s sake. Kageyama was a custard cream man.

      “Tobio-chan! What brings you to my humble abode? Judging by the recent conversations I’ve been having with Hinata, I’m guessing you don’t need me to use alien physics to help you find a soulmate…”

      Kageyama felt a little happy knowing that Hinata had been talking about him to Oikawa, but he couldn’t quite find it in him to express his happiness. His thoughts were taking priority over his emotions.

      “Am I a bad person, Oikawa-san?”

      “Yeah,” Oikawa responded without hesitation. Kageyama was a little taken aback by the quick response, but allowed Oikawa to elaborate. “You’re bad at being human, but good at being you.”

      Kageyama frowned. “What the hell does that mean?”

      “Exactly what I said, Tobio-chan.”

      The dark-haired man let out a sigh. “I don’t know why I came here…”

      “Let me guess. You, the genius, mastermind and prodigy, are bored.” There was a touch of jealousy to Oikawa’s words, but Kageyama didn’t really focus on it. “You’re used to having something to control, so when everything’s going fine and dandy, you get bored. You feel unfulfilled. It’s like you’re on a set of stairs, but you’ve already reached the last step. You have to walk across the landing before you can find the next set of stairs.”

      Kageyama mulled over Oikawa’s words. It was true. Everything felt quiet, too quiet.

      “Not to mention, everyone around you is beginning to change. I don’t counsel everyone you know, but the people I counsel are different to how they used to be. Hinata seems to be springing back to his usual happy self. Kiyoko-chan tells me that Suga’s faring well. Kinoshita’s calm. Tsukishima doesn’t really say anything about his mood. He’s a sarcastic little bastard, but he does ask me about my day every now and again. You could call that an improvement.” Oikawa shrugged his shoulders before continuing. “You’re the only one who’s remaining stagnant, Tobio-chan. So, you’re despairing. Wondering why everyone’s moving when you’re standing still. Good news, I can help you move forwards! You should probably start by smiling, rather than glaring at me…”

      “I’m glaring?”

      “Yeah. You look like you’re about to execute me.”

      Kageyama frowned even deeper. “I can’t help my face, Oikawa-san.”

      “Oh, yeah. You should also stop using -san with me.”

      “I’ll stop using –san when you stop using –chan.” For a brief moment, Kageyama imagined referring to Oikawa as Oikawa-chan. He felt a shiver creep down his spine.

      “And,” Oikawa continued, completely ignoring what Kageyama had just said, “you should think about finding a hobby. You don’t work around the prison, do you? There’s laundry, electrical, cleaning, garden, driving, medical, commissary… there’s quite a bit to do.”

      “You want me to lower myself to commoner work?”

      Kageyama wrinkled his nose at Oikawa. He’d sooner commit social suicide than pick up a mop. Then again, picking up a mop was the equivalent to committing social suicide. After all, who could imagine Kageyama Tobio of all people mopping a floor? Even Oikawa found it hard to imagine, and he was the one who had suggested the idea.

      “What, would you rather lounge from the top of your throne and get a jouster to come and entertain you? You have arms and legs for a reason. Go out there and get some hobbies,” Oikawa demanded. He knew he was going a bit far with his teasing — he was crossing the border from ‘friendly teasing’ to ‘might-get-on-Kageyama’s-bad-side’ — but Kageyama didn’t seem too offended by Oikawa’s words. _Thank God_ , Oikawa thought to himself.

      “I have hobbies,” Kageyama insisted.

      Oikawa raised an eyebrow at him, clearly not believing that statement. “Tobio-chan, don’t bullshit me.”

      Kageyama stared Oikawa down. “I’m not bullshitting you.”

      “Fine.” Oikawa smirked, tilting his head up in a challenging manner. “Name three.”

      “Smoking. Sleeping. Shitting.”

      “First is an addiction, not a hobby. Not to mention, it’s an unhealthy addiction. Second’s a need. And third is just disgusting. Like, come on. Do you shit so often that it’s a hobby for you?”

      “It’s a natural human function.”

      Oikawa shook his head, but didn’t bother to respond to Kageyama’s point. Kageyama was a genius when it came to all things crime, but with anything else — socialising in particular — he was a bit of an airhead.

      “Haven’t you ever tried something like yoga? I know they sometimes do yoga in the weights room. They clear away the weights, get the mats out and do yoga. Or, you could go play cards in the rec room.”

      Oikawa tapped his fingers against the desk for a few moments, before springing up in his seat all of a sudden, his resolve written across his face. “I just remembered! Aida-chan’s thinking about getting a pool table for you guys! I suggested it since I like pool. Plus, I want to beat that stupid Ushiwaka at pool… he says that he’s ‘undefeated’. Asshole. I’ll show him who’s undefeated — no, not just that, I’ll defeat him so hard that he needs a six-month stay in Aoba Johsai to get over it.”

      Oikawa had a pretty scary expression on his face right now. He was flexing and loosening his fingers, his lips stretching out slightly too much as malice seethed off his body the same way his cologne did. Kageyama didn’t really realise just how much Oikawa seemed to hate Ushijima — at least, until now.

      Kageyama shrugged. “Whatever.”

      “It’s not whatever! Do you know how long Ushiwaka’s been getting the credit for everything? He even got Employee of the Month! What about me? I give everyone chocolate digestives and I smile at everyone! He couldn’t smile to save his life! All he does is walk around with that same asshole expression and break fights up! I’m so much cooler than him, damnit…” Oikawa began to grind his teeth together, angrily biting into his chocolate digestive as he did so. “Stupid Ushiwaka.”

      “I didn’t come here to listen to you talk about Ushijima.”

      Oikawa looked up at Kageyama’s unimpressed expression, forgetting about his Ushijima-induced irritation. “Oh, right. Well…” Oikawa scratched his head, thinking to himself before continuing. “Just do what I told you. Go to yoga and clear your head. Make some new friends. Get to know people outside of Karasuno, for God’s sake. And smile. Come on. Smile right now.”

      Kageyama smiled as wide as he could, but he didn’t get the reaction but he was hoping for.

      “No, scratch that. Just… you’re better off glaring…”

      Kageyama’s ‘smile’ turned into a scowl (personally, Oikawa couldn’t tell the difference between the two) as he folded his arms defensively. “Damn you.”

      “Strong words, Tobio-chan. You can’t make friends if you’re mean,” Oikawa scolded. “I’ll teach you how to make friends! Alright. Now, compliment me.”

      Kageyama stared at Oikawa for a few moments, thinking hard about something that he could compliment Oikawa on. “Your hair,” he said at last. “It’s really brown. Like mud. No, not mud. Soil. You know, ‘cause things grow in soil… and it’s like giving birth… you know, to seeds.”

      The brunette frowned. “That’s really not a compliment…”

      Oikawa wasn’t sure whether to be offended or not by the fact that Kageyama had literally just told him that he had things growing in his hair. He eventually opted to not take offense, concluding that Kageyama was too much of a bonehead to understand why it wasn’t a compliment.

      “Yes it is,” Kageyama insisted, frowning as he bit into the chocolate digestive he’d taken from Oikawa’s plate. “Whatever. What would you class as a compliment then, Oikawa-san?”

      Oikawa looked up into Kageyama’s eyes while taking a chocolate digestive and biting into it. A smirk tugged at his lips as he began to speak, pearly white teeth making Kageyama feel slightly conscious about his.

      “This chocolate digestive’s pretty sweet and all,” Oikawa began, slowly sliding his tongue along his bottom teeth as he fluttered his eyelashes at Kageyama, “but your ass is even sweeter.”

      Kageyama choked on his chocolate digestive.

      “That’s too far,” he said in-between splutters. “No.”

      “Do you need me to save you?” Oikawa leaned over the desk slightly, hand reaching out towards Kageyama’s. “I mean, it’s the only way I could repay you after that ass of yours saved my eyesight…”

      “No,” Kageyama said, shaking his head vehemently. “Stay there.”

      Kageyama slapped his own chest until the crumbs went down, breathing heavily as he finally began to recover. “That’s not a compliment,” he continued once he’d stopped choking, the shock still evident on his facial expression. “That’s flirting.”

      “Oh, come on. Don’t act like there’s a difference between the two,” Oikawa said, tapping Kageyama’s head in a slightly patronising manner. “The best way to get people to like you is to flirt. Take it from your senpai.”

      “I have Hinata. I don’t need to flirt.”

      “Tobio-chan, from what I’ve seen, you can’t flirt to save your life. I always flirt with Iwa-chan.” Oikawa wasn’t going to mention that Iwaizumi usually countered his flirting with a demand to _shut the fuck up_ or with a swift whack of the head if Oikawa decided to be a bit too risqué. “You have to be able to flirt with your man! Come on. Pretend I’m chibi-chan. Give me your best line and I’ll help you improve it.”

      Kageyama was tempted to walk out, but for some reason, he was genuinely intrigued to know if Oikawa would be of some use for once. So, he played along with what Oikawa wanted. “Alright,” Kageyama said, letting out a sigh. “Hinata… you’re like an angel. But… without wings.”

      Oikawa snorted. “So, a human? Jesus Christ, Tobio-chan. You need to step up.”

      “What do you want me to say, damnit?”

      “Alright, alright. So, let’s say you and chibi-chan have Mexican food. Afterwards, you say something along the lines of _hey, Hinata. I’ve got a fire hose in my pants that can sort out that fire in your asshole_. My first boyfriend used that line on me. Granted, it ended up getting a little messy and he broke up with me like two hours later after his ex-boyfriend called him up saying that he wanted him back and he left me in the motel room smelling like taco shells, toxic cum and unfulfilled dreams, but maybe it’ll work out for you.”

      “I really do question your taste, Oikawa-san.” Kageyama frowned.

      Honestly, he hadn’t even considered the idea of sexual intimacy, even less so with another human being. Hell, he hadn’t even kissed Hinata yet. (Well, not at least since they’d decided to try the relationship thing out.) Considering Hinata’s track record and Kageyama’s lack of a track record, sex was off the table for the both of them, at least for the foreseeable future.

      “What makes you think I’d say something so vulgar?”

      “Fine, fine. I’ll keep it PG. Alright.” Oikawa cleared his throat before continuing. “ _Say, Hinata. How many stars do you think there are?_ You let him guess. Then, pointing at his eyes, you say, _two stars. One here, and one here. They’re the most beautiful stars, and you’re my sun_. Then, you kiss him.”

      Much to Oikawa’s surprise, Kageyama had an even more disgusted expression on his face. Oikawa had expected Kageyama to jump up and call him a genius, but Kageyama didn’t seem to want to be cooperative today. Then again, Kageyama didn’t exactly make a habit of cooperating with others.

      “I’m not in a soap, for God’s sake. These flirty lines are useless. And why would I say there’s only two stars? That’s stupid. Science says there’s billions of stars,” Kageyama grumbled, still glaring to himself. “Did you fail biology class or something?”

      “Biology’s to do with life, Tobio-chan… and of course not! I passed!”

      “How do you know stars aren’t alive? It’s not like you’ve ever seen a star,” Kageyama ranted. “And Hinata’s eyes aren’t even like stars! Stars are just stupid burning pieces of rock that die off after a bit—”

      “I’m pretty sure millions of years isn’t a bit…”

      “—but Hinata’s eyes give me purpose! Every time he looks at me, it’s like he’s telling me everything in his head with his eyes alone. His eyes aren’t stupid stars. They’re my purpose!”

      “Okay, okay, I get it. You don’t want sex or soppiness. Understood. Then, what about this? _Hinata._ You wait for him to ask what you want. Then, you say, _nothing. I just like saying your name_. You could say more, like, _it feels perfect on my lips_ or _I can’t help myself_ , but since you’re boring I doubt you would.”

      “Why do you always have to insult me?”

      “That’s how you’ll learn. Now, come on. Say that my line was spectacular.”

      Kageyama stared at him with a blank expression on his face.

      “Goddamnit, Tobio-chan. Fine. You can’t flirt, you can’t use pick-up lines and you can’t smile. All you can do is tell him how you truly feel. So, go on. Tell chibi-chan how you feel about him. I’m chibi-chan, by the way.”

      “Wait. You just want to tell Iwaizumi some gossip about my love life, don’t you?”

      Oikawa mock-gasped, more or less confirming Kageyama’s suspicions. “Of course not, Tobio-chan! I wouldn’t be so rude as to do that.”

      “Alright, then. I’m done speaking.”

      “Wait, don’t leave,” Oikawa pleaded. “I promise I won’t tell Iwa-chan a word!”

      “Thanks for the digestive,” Kageyama said, completely disregarding what Oikawa was saying. “I’ll see you around.”

      “Wait, Tobio-chan.”

      Kageyama turned to face Oikawa, thinking that the brunette was going to say something serious. But, when he began to smirk, Kageyama could already tell that it was going to be something stupid. “You have something on your ass. My eyes.”

      It was no surprise that Kageyama threw a paper ball in Oikawa’s direction.

      “Tobio-chan, is that how you’re meant to treat your senpai?”

      “I’m leaving.”

      “Fine. But, wait.” When Kageyama turned around once again, Oikawa contemplated saying his actual message for a minute. But then he changed his mind and smiled, waving at Kageyama. “Was your mother a baker? Because those buns are sweet.”

      Kageyama clicked his tongue in annoyance before turning around so that Oikawa couldn’t say anything about his ass anymore. “I don’t need your pickup lines, Oikawa-san. I don’t plan to use them. At all. Now, goodbye.”

      “You might not need my pickup lines in your life, but I definitely need that ass in mine.”

      At this point, Oikawa wasn’t even being serious. He was just winding up Kageyama for the sake of it, since it was so fun to watch his kouhai’s face go bright red with embarrassment. He was usually either seen with a blank expression or a glare, so anything that differed from the norm was amusing to the counsellor.

      “I hate you.”

      Kageyama left and shut the door before Oikawa could even have a chance to respond. Oikawa simply sat back and laughed to himself for some time before sitting back up and mulling over the events of June. June had been a busy month. And somehow, Oikawa could tell that July was going to be worse. So much worse. Kageyama was a ticking time bomb, and it wouldn’t be long before something blew up in Fukurodani.


	24. An Interlude of Emotional Vulnerability

Chapter Twenty-Four: An Interlude of Emotional Vulnerability

      Over the course of the next week, Kageyama didn’t get to speak to Hinata. Not once. He was always in the hair salon helping the Johzenji out with cleaning and learning how to cut hair. Hinata was proud to say that he could tie a perfect man-bun. But, he was even more proud to see that the Johzenji had finally returned to their hair salon. They’d lost a few customers, but Hinata could see that they were really working hard to show everyone that they had changed. He could see the amount of effort they put into each hairstyle, into each haircut. They even did some small things for free, like adding hair clips and doing little touch-ups. Not to mention, they were always humming catchy songs and trying to make their clients as relaxed as possible. Hinata really was proud, so proud that he couldn’t stop himself from burbling about it every couple of minutes. And if Hinata wasn’t in the hair salon, then he was in the Johzenji dorm, playing Uno with them all. They’d all been up to so much recently that Hinata had kind of forgotten about Kageyama. It wasn’t intentional. But, when the sun went down and the stars came up late at night, Terushima would put away his tough guy façade and open up to Hinata about his past.

      “My mom thought that Satoshi was taking advantage of me,” Terushima had said, “and it probably was that way at first. It’s weird. She told me it was wrong, and anyone else I’ve spoken to about it has said the same. But, I guess I stopped seeing it as wrong. It was just something that happened. Of course, if I could go back in time, I would’ve wanted it not to happen, but it happened. It made me this way. And, it’s not wrong. It’s just something that made me who I am. Satoshi was still my older brother. The person I looked up to. So… yeah. The fact that he’s dead hurts.”

      Hinata had been quite intrigued to hear Terushima’s perspective on things. It turned out that Terushima was technically a victim of sexual assault, just like Hinata, but Terushima didn’t see it that way. He’d spoken about how he became more sexually liberated. Hinata, on the other hand, had become sexually inhibited.

      Hinata had opened up to Terushima as well, saying things that he’d never thought that he would say.

      “I thought about killing myself,” Hinata had admitted during one of these dark nights. “After he was done with me. I’d lie in that bed, and I’d stare up at that mural that he had on the ceiling. I would wonder, what would happen if I went and stabbed myself in the chest right now? Would he start being nice to me again?”

      “I’m glad,” Terushima had said at last. “I’m glad that you didn’t do it. Stab yourself, I mean. Suicide’s never the answer. You wouldn’t have been able to play on Japan’s volleyball team if you’d done it, right?”

      “But then I ended up in this dump. So…”

      “Oh, come on. You met me. Now you’re not allowed to kill yourself.”

      “Fine, fine,” Hinata had said, holding his pinkie out to Terushima in a pinky-promise. “I swear never to kill myself. Cross my heart and hope to die, stick a needle in my eye.”

      Terushima unlatched his pinkie from Hinata’s. “You just said ‘hope to die’, you liar.” The two had burst into laughter shortly after — well, at least until Bobata had yelled “Hey, assholes! It’s like three a.m.! Shut up!” — and Bobata had even gone as far as to launch a boot at their square all the way from his square, startling the both of them.

      Now that it was Saturday afternoon, Kageyama was making his way down to the Johzenji dorm, having grown tired of Hinata not speaking to him. Sure, Hinata was allowed to have friends. He was allowed to have time on his own. But Hinata hadn’t spoken to him since last week, for God’s sake. Kageyama had reached the conclusion that Hinata had become slightly too enamoured with his buddies, so he was going to go and have a friendly chat with the Johzenji. Nothing more, nothing less.

      The visitation room was in the same corridor as the Johzenji dorm. And, Kageyama had been about to keep walking forwards, keep making his way down to the dorm. But he couldn’t help himself from poking his head into the visitation room.

      “Oh, Kageyama. I just sent a C.O. out to get you,” Ushijima said. “You have a visitor. She’s at the table over there.”

      He jerked a finger in the direction of a small table, nestled up in the corner of the room. Sat at that table was a woman. A skinny, tall woman with red hair and her arms laid flat against the table.

      When she spotted Kageyama, she slowly and carefully stood up. She had intense green eyes, green like foliage in a forest. Intense eyebrows at an arch, dramatic eyelashes that swept forwards as she blinked. Her nails were kept short, never straying too far from their base, while her hands were petite and blemish-free. Make no mistake, though. Her age shone through the few grey strands that were in her hair, the slight wrinkles that were embedded into her skin, through the air of wisdom that seemed to revolve around her like some sort of timeless perfume. She was someone that Kageyama couldn’t recognise for the life of him.

      She definitely recognised Kageyama. She knew Kageyama. But, Kageyama had no idea who she was.

      Her thin lips pulled into a polite smile as she beckoned Kageyama forwards, eyes rising to meet Kageyama’s.

      “Thank you,” he said to Ushijima, nodding once before making his way over to the table. He engaged in brief eye contact with the woman, sitting down before speaking at last. “You must be Autumn.”

      “Yes, I am. Nice to meet you, Kageyama. Now, shall we begin?”


	25. Love's the Bomb

Chapter Twenty-Five: Love’s the Bomb

      “Hey, guys. The king’s here,” Bobata yelled with a mouthful of crisps in his mouth. It was Saturday night, and the Johzenji had been preparing to hold their daily Uno tournament while snacking on junk food. It wouldn’t be too long before lights out, so when the announcement came that the king had decided to drop in, the Johzenji stood up from their futons and looked over their squares in surprise. Sure enough, Kageyama was standing there on his own, observing his surroundings with the same impassive look on his face. Terushima was the first to step out of his square, a cautious look on his face as he approached the lone leader. It was no coincidence that the C.O. in his small room had gone on a ‘toilet break’ prior to his arrival.

      “What brings you here, King? We don’t usually see you ‘round these ends.”

      “Kageyama’s fine,” he said in response to Terushima’s question. “Is everyone here?”

      “Yeah,” Bobata said, walking out of his square with his ready salted crisps. “We are. Hinata’s out, if you were looking f—for…”

      Bobata’s jaw went slack when Kageyama bowed his head all of a sudden, bowing as low as he could possibly go. The rest of Johzenji stared in shock, not having expected Kageyama to humble himself so readily. They would’ve taken pictures if they had phones on hand, but they weren’t lucky enough to have phones. The only people who could get phones were those in Karasuno, Nekoma and possibly Shiratorizawa due to their media links, and even then, it was pretty difficult.

      After some time had passed, Kageyama raised his head, his eyes lacking their usual coldness when he finally spoke. “Thank you.”

      “I… uh…” Bobata was at a loss for words. “What did we do?”

      Kageyama didn’t answer the question. He turned his attention to Terushima, who had a sceptical look on his face. “I think it’s about time we buried the past, Terushima. I feel that there’s a lot that Karasuno could learn from the Johzenji. I’m aware we’ve had our differences in the past, but life only lasts so long, don’t you think?”

      “Ah, so this is the ‘apology’ that Hinata told me to expect.” Terushima stepped forward, tongue piercing flickering in the overhead lighting as he stopped just a few centimetres away from Kageyama. “Just so you know, he’s one of us. Not Karasuno. So, don’t thank us for accepting him. You should go fuck yourself for running a gang that can’t accept anyone who differs from what you’re used to,” Terushima snapped, his tone clearly indicating his disapproval.

      “Terushima, lay off.” Bobata was giving Terushima a warning look.

      “No.” The blonde shook his head at Bobata before turning his attention back to Kageyama. “King. You can do whatever you want in this prison. We know that. But, when it comes to this dorm, you’re not going to walk in, thank us as if what we do is for you, and then say that you can learn from us. We are not here to teach you. We are not here for your purpose. We are here to have fun, and to serve our time. So, no offense, but fuck off. We have nothing to discuss.”

      Kageyama’s eyes glinted in the overhead light as he tilted his head up.

      “Terushima. From one leader to another, I’ll tell you this. When someone offers you an apology, it’s usually wise to take it.”

      “So, you thank us, then you threaten us.” Terushima let out a snort of laughter. “Man. I wouldn’t expect any less from a member of Karasuno. What, were you expecting us to get on our knees and thank you for being such a benevolent king? You can’t just expect everyone to obey you, you know.”

      “I’m not saying we have to buddy up and start sharing juice pots. But, we’ll be seeing each other a lot more often since Hinata’s _mine_.” The emphasis on the word ‘mine’ was very much intentional, and the resentment in Terushima’s eyes told Kageyama that he understood that. “So, I guess it’s about time you learnt to like me, Terushima. But, you’d better learn my name first. It’s Kageyama. Kageyama Tobio.”

      “Yeah. You don’t need to rub it in my face.”

      Kageyama pulled out a small mobile phone from the pocket of his prison trousers and pushed it into Terushima’s hands, eyes remaining on Terushima’s the whole time. “I hope this is enough to show you that Karasuno are willing to change.”

      Terushima didn’t understand it, but he accepted the phone and shoved it into his pocket. “Whatever. I still think you’re a king. And I’ll still be waiting for the day when someone manages to dethrone you.”

      “Terushima,” Higa interjected, “you can’t talk to him like that!”

      “Let him,” Kageyama said, holding a hand up to silence Higa’s protests. “I appreciate his spirit. I’m sorry to say that I won’t go out so easily, Terushima. I’ve lived thirty years, and I intend to live the rest of my reign out. It’s in both of our interests if we play nice.”

      “It’s always about benefits and interest to you, huh?” Terushima let out another snort of laughter. “I fail to see what Hinata sees in you, if I’m honest. I’d rather he went with me. But, you know what? I sure as hell intend to do a better job of protecting him than you.”

      At this claim, Kageyama’s entire demeanour changed. The others could sense the impending danger, but Terushima still wasn’t fazed. He stared Kageyama down, eyes sharp as if he were daring Kageyama to challenge him.

      “You tried to get him to have sex with you when you first met him,” Kageyama reminded him, a look of disgust on his face. “Then again, that’s just you living up to the Johzenji reputation, right?”

      “You threw a fucking milk carton at his face,” Terushima said, raising his voice at Kageyama. The two leaders were slowly beginning to lose their composure, and while they themselves didn’t sense it, the others in the room did.

      “Yeah, because a milk carton really compares to unwanted sexual advances,” Kageyama sarcastically responded. “You must think you’re a saint compared to me, huh?”

      “I never said I was a saint. But you’re a fucking asshole,” Terushima said, the words sharp like shrapnel when they left his lips. “You broke his heart. He spent ages moping around, carrying those notebooks with him. You were too busy smoking and controlling the commoners to care, weren’t you? You just want to use Hinata the same way you use everyone else.”

      “And you just want to corrupt him with all that weed bullshit,” Kageyama snapped, taking another step forward. Now, there was barely any space between the two leaders. Kageyama was so close that he could’ve reached for Terushima’s neck. He could’ve done anything he wanted. But, Kageyama knew that whatever he tried to do to Terushima, Terushima would match his every action.

      “Honestly,” Kageyama continued with a snide toss of the head, “are you planning to turn him into some sort of cocaine mule? Your people are always getting in trouble for drugs. Say, how many men have you lost to the SHU? No, not even the SHU. How many family members have you lost to drugs? There’s the father. The brother. Oh, maybe the mother’s headed down that path too…”

      “Fuck you.”

      Terushima was the first to touch Kageyama. The Karasuno leader found himself being pushed up against the wall, held firm by Terushima’s unwavering grip. “You want to bring family members into this, King? I’ll let you know now. My brother died of a heart attack. I never knew my dad. And, my mom’s not going out like that. She’s not.”

      “Your mom lied to you. Your brother became a meth addict, took over a helicopter and crashed it into a church. He didn’t just kill himself, he took the lives of other church-goers,” Kageyama said, experiencing a weird sense of pleasure at how Terushima’s facial expression became somewhat tormented. “And before you ask how I know that, I have my sources. Long story short, it looks like your entire bloodline shares the gene for ruining people’s lives—”

      “Shut the fuck up!”

      Terushima’s fist went flying towards Kageyama’s face, landing with a satisfying thump. But before Terushima could pull back to land yet another hit on Kageyama, the rest of the Johzenji ran in and dragged Terushima off Kageyama’s body, putting a healthy distance between the two leaders.

      “For fuck’s sake, Terushima!” Bobata pushed the Johzenji leader back, not allowing him to get any closer to Kageyama. “Cool it! I don’t care what he said. Cool it.”

      “He’s talking shit about my family,” Terushima snarled, still struggling in Bobata’s grip. “It’s one thing to talk about me. It’s another to come to this fucking dorm, try and pretend to be peaceful and then make a mockery of my whole bloodline! Hey, you know what? I bet the phone he gave us isn’t even a normal phone! It’ll probably detonate any second and blow us to pieces, I bet!”

      “Don’t be stupid,” Kageyama said, glaring at the Johzenji leader in disdain. “How the hell would I bring a bomb into a prison?”

      “Cowards are capable of anything,” was Terushima’s cold response. “They just don’t acknowledge it.”

      “Go ahead then. Try and detonate my mobile bomb,” Kageyama said, his tone clearly making fun of Terushima. Even though the rest of the Johzenji were on Terushima’s side (well, of course) they couldn’t help but agree with Kageyama that the idea of the phone being a bomb was ridiculous. Sure, Kageyama was capable of some pretty crazy shit, but a phone bomb? Kageyama wasn’t stupid enough to bomb a whole dorm, especially when he himself was in the room.

      Terushima was a little scared, truth be told. His fingers were trembling as he reached for the phone cover, knowing that he would only find out the truth when he flicked it up. A flip phone. It had been a while since Terushima had last seen a phone like this. But, he eventually overcame his nerves and flipped it open, eyes shut as he held it away from him. However, when the rest of the Johzenji began to laugh at him, Terushima quickly realised that his fears were unfounded.

      “Dude, did you see his expression? It was all like _God save me_! _I don’t want to die without getting dicked down one last time_!” Higa was practically in tears, keeling over himself as he pointed in Terushima’s direction. Terushima rolled his eyes and flicked the phone back down, handing it back to Bobata so that he could pocket the device.

      Terushima turned his attention back to Kageyama, who was watching with that same egotistical expression on his face. _I was right, ha-ha. You’re stupid little Terushima and I’m fantastic little Kingy-Kingy Kageyama who’s dating the guy you’re in love with_. At least, that was how Terushima chose to interpret Kageyama’s facial expression.

      “Well, King. Just so you know, if I were to fight you one-on-one,” Terushima said, pulling his arms loose from Bobata’s grip, “I’d have you drowning in your own blood like the sucker you are.”

      “I’m glad you’re so confident, Terushima,” Kageyama said, his tone clearly indicating otherwise. While he didn’t plan to acknowledge it, he knew deep down that he stood no chance against Terushima. He was in their dorm, their territory and they had the upper hand with their strength and numbers. If it wasn’t for the fact that everyone else in the room was scared of him, Kageyama would be mincemeat right now. Fortunately enough, when it came to prison, reputation went a very long way. “But, I’ll have you know that my body count is a lot higher than yours.”

      “Yeah? Well, I’m sure that if I just kill you, y—”

      Bobata slammed his hand against Terushima’s lips, stopping him from incriminating himself any further. Out of all the people that Terushima could threaten to kill, it just had to be the strongest guy in the entire prison.

      “Kill me?” Kageyama’s facial expression grew in intensity, eyes clear and innocent as a smile began to tug at his lips. It was the first time he’d smiled since entering the room. “I’d love to see you try, Teru.”

      It was then, and only then, that Terushima realised that he stood no chance against Kageyama. He’d just threatened to kill the king, the same king who had status, power and an overwhelming ability of twisting things in his favour. The second Kageyama left this dorm, Terushima’s life would be up for grabs. There was only one thing that could save Terushima’s life at this point.

      “Kageyama? What are you doing here?”

      Kageyama wheeled around, eyes widening when he realised that Hinata was standing at the entrance of the dorm. He hadn’t anticipated that Hinata would return from medical so soon. Thankfully, it didn’t look like Hinata had noticed the tension in the room, but even so, that was one kink in Kageyama’s carefully crafted plan. Hinata shouldn’t have been in the dorm. Not tonight.

      “Your friends were just keeping me company,” Kageyama responded at last, his eyes daring Terushima to contradict him. Terushima gritted his teeth together, but didn’t correct Kageyama. “They were telling me that you were going to be in medical overnight.”

      “Oh, no. I wanted to come back to the dorm to hang with the guys,” Hinata said, looking over at everyone else before turning his attention back to Kageyama. “Did you want to talk about something?”

      “Yeah. We need to talk,” Kageyama said, “but in private.”

      “Oh. Our spot then?”

      “Yeah. Our spot would be fine,” Kageyama responded. Their spot was Kageyama’s room, since that was more or less where they spent the most time together.

      “Wait, Hinata,” Terushima said, searching for anything that could make Hinata stay. They needed Hinata to stay. It was the only way they could ensure their safety. “We’re having an Uno tournament tonight. You don’t want someone to take your throne, do you?”

      “I’d tell you to keep it warm for me, but I honestly don’t see you winning tonight. I’m putting my money on Bobata,” Hinata joked. Terushima could tell just from those two sentences alone that Hinata had no plans of staying in the dorm tonight.

      They were fucked.

      Kageyama allowed a slight smirk to pull at his lips when he saw the despair which was practically tearing Terushima’s face apart. It was such an appealing sight that he had to bite his lip to keep from laughing. His eyes looked around the room once more, before stopping on Terushima’s once more.

      “Good luck with the Uno,” Kageyama said at last. “God knows that game can get explosive.”

      “F—F—Thanks. I’ll do my best.”

      If it wasn’t for Hinata’s presence, Terushima would’ve yelled _fuck you_ and lunged in Kageyama’s direction. Terushima was still convinced that Kageyama was planning something. He didn’t know what, but he knew that if he acted like nothing was wrong, Kageyama would try to kill them all. He didn’t care if the others thought that he was crazy. Kageyama was definitely up to something.

      It was then that Towada entered the room, flanked by two other C.Os.

      “Inmates, I’m pretty sure you shouldn’t all be standing around like this.”

      Towada had come down after realising that the lights in this dorm hadn’t been turned off. There’d been a faint glow in the hallway, so Towada had followed it, and it had led him to the Johzenji dorm. The lights were meant to go off after ten p.m., but for some reason, the C.O. delegated to this dorm had left without turning their lights off.

      “Sorry. We’ll go to our squares,” Bobata said, forcefully grabbing Terushima’s forearm and dragging him off in the direction of the squares. The rest of the Johzenji followed suit, leaving Hinata and Kageyama on their own by the entrance.

      “We’ll leave.”

      Kageyama looked Towada dead in the eyes, daring the C.O. to try and challenge him. When Towada simply nodded and looked away, Kageyama took Hinata by the hand and walked out of the dorm with him, not bothering to look back. Now, Kageyama wouldn’t have to move a finger to destroy the Johzenji.

      They’d end up destroying themselves.

      And once they were gone, Hinata would be his.

***

      “I’m sorry about this week. There was a death in Terushima’s family, so I’ve been comforting him. And today, I had my evaluation.” Hinata was sat on the edge of Kageyama’s bed, looking as if one touch would cause him to start bouncing all over the room like some sort of new-fangled boomerang. He was bracing himself for Kageyama to yell at him about this and that, but when Kageyama simply nodded in response, Hinata was surprised.

      “It’s fine. You’re here now.” When Kageyama found his gaze drifting to Hinata’s eyes, Oikawa’s cheesy pickup lines flashed in his mind for a few moments. _How many stars are there?_

      “It still sucks, having to think back to those times. I wish I could just forget it. But I can’t, not really. The guy said my mood seems to have improved, but I need to start sleeping more. I don’t really sleep…”

      “You’re turning into me,” Kageyama joked, although when a tear slid down Hinata’s cheek all of a sudden, alarm flashed in Kageyama’s mind, his hand instinctively reaching to wipe away the tear from Hinata’s cheek.

      “I’m sorry,” Hinata mumbled through his tears. “I’m just… I’m so glad it’s over. The dying’s finally… over.”

      And then he finally broke his happy façade, bursting into tears. They were running down his cheeks, staining his clothes and making his eyelashes all watery. Kageyama knelt down and took Hinata’s hands in his. They were trembling so much that Kageyama could’ve easily believed that his hands were equipped with motors.

      “Stay here,” Kageyama said, holding onto Hinata’s hands.

      “W—Where are you going?” Hinata looked up at Kageyama through his tears, trying to figure out where Kageyama would want to go at such a moment.

      “Nowhere, idiot. I mean, stay here tonight.”

      “I can’t,” Hinata said, gulping back some sobs. “I—I promised to read the new volume of Boku no Hero Academia with Terushima tonight.”

      As much as Hinata wanted to lie down and listen to music with Kageyama, he couldn’t push Terushima aside. Not after he’d made a promise.

      He wiggled his hands free of Kageyama’s and stood up, wiping his tears away with the back of his left hand.

      “But Hinata—”

      “Sorry. We’ll… we can talk another time…”

      Kageyama almost went to grab Hinata, telling him that he’d die if he went back into that dorm, but his common sense kicked in at the last second. Hinata would go running if he mentioned _Johzenji_ and _dead_ in the same sentence. So, Kageyama did something even stupider.

      He kissed Hinata.

      It wasn’t any ordinary kiss either. Kageyama’s arm gained a mind of its own and slipped itself around Hinata’s waist, pulling him closer. He focused all of his energy into kissing Hinata as deeply as he can, so focused that he almost forgot to enjoy it. He’d spent his whole life believing that kissing was gross. Thinking _oh, what’s so fun about touching lips_? But right now, his heart was thudding so hard against his ribcage that he felt like it would burst out of his chest and into Hinata’s hands (oh God, when did Hinata’s hands get on his chest?) but he didn’t even care. He could feel Hinata’s warm lips trembling against his — oh God, Hinata wasn’t pulling away — and he felt Hinata murmuring something against his lips.

      “Your heart’s beating so fast.”

      Hinata was smiling against Kageyama’s lips, his hands sliding down from Kageyama’s chest to his hips. Kageyama gasped at the unfamiliar touch, realising that there was some sort of emotion bubbling inside of him. He couldn’t figure out for the life of him what it was, but it was… pleasant. The most peculiar thing for Kageyama was that he’d gone from hating human contact to loving the way that Hinata would slide his hands over his body. He wanted Hinata to do it again, but before he could voice the thought, Hinata spoke once more.

      “That’s cute.”

      _Cute._

_Hinata called him cute._

      Kageyama couldn’t even think of a response. It was as if all of his brain-related functions had fizzled out. Hinata had broken his brain, broken his cognition, and now all he could do was focus on the way this felt. The way Hinata felt. Hinata’s lips were still touching his, still trembling and heating up as they remained in contact with his. And Hinata had that distinct smell about him; it was like opening a new book for the first time and smelling the spine of it. Or touching some warm paper fresh from the printer and feeling your hands begin to heat up. Kageyama couldn’t quite place it, but he couldn’t get enough of it. He wanted more. He wanted to kiss Hinata deeper. Harder. Slower. He wanted to prolong this moment, prolong what it felt like to be loved by such a warm human being. He wanted to prolong this feeling. He, Kageyama Tobio, was kissing someone and actually enjoying it. Not to mention, the other party also seemed to be enjoying it.

      Uh-oh, Kageyama thought. He’d only intended to distract Hinata.

      But now it didn’t matter, because Hinata’s lips were scorching against his and his eyes were so dark that Kageyama could’ve easily mistaken them for the night sky outside, but then he shut his eyes once again and focused on this feeling. And he could feel the embers of desire, Hinata’s desire, and it was starting a fire deep in the pit of Kageyama’s stomach, so intense that Kageyama could feel himself beginning to lose himself in this one kiss. Kageyama gasped, realising that he’d taken it way too far, but then Hinata snapped the gap closed again and Kageyama could feel the foot of the bed pressing into his back of his legs, keeping him upright and he had to wonder when they made the journey from the door to this bed, but Hinata was only focused on exploring Kageyama with his hands, his lips, pressing them so deep into Kageyama’s that he felt like he’d melt into the ground, and he almost did.

      But then, Hinata pulled away. The two stared at each other, breathing heavily for a few moments. Kageyama couldn’t help the hand that drifted to his own lips, and sure enough, they were warm with the same fire that was burning deep inside of him. _Calm down_ , he reminded himself, still regaining his breath. Hinata appeared to be lost for words, although Kageyama was in a similar state.

      “Sorry,” Kageyama said at last, sounding a lot more vulnerable than he would’ve liked. “I uh… didn’t ask for consent…”

      Kageyama was graced with the sound of Hinata giggling, promptly getting up on his tip-toes to kiss Kageyama on the nose. The flush that spread across Kageyama’s face mere milliseconds after the action caused Hinata to laugh even harder. “So now you want to be a gentleman?”

      Kageyama folded his arms in indignation. “I’ve always been a gentleman!”

      Again, Hinata laughed. “Yeah, right. Idiot.”

      Kageyama frowned. “Who are you calling idiot?”

      “You, idiot.”

      Hinata smirked when he realised that he’d managed to irritate Kageyama once again. At this point, it had become Hinata’s substitute for volleyball. Irritating Kageyama. Right now, he was at the top of the leaderboard.

      “Just… stay here, damnit.”

      Hinata beamed at him. “Sure!”

      Kageyama couldn’t help but stare at Hinata when he smiled like that. It was such a bright, happy smile. It was as if Hinata had come down from the heavens, and his only purpose was to smile at Kageyama. If that was the case, Kageyama really wouldn’t mind. Not one bit.

      “Take a picture,” Hinata said, still beaming in Kageyama’s direction. “It’ll last longer.”

      And suddenly, Kageyama was convinced that Hinata had come from the darkest depths of hell rather than from the heavens. Something bred in the heavens couldn’t be this damn irritating, after all.

      “Shut up! I don’t need a picture of you!”

      “Yeah. Sure.” Hinata’s lips pulled into a smirk, daring Kageyama to argue with him. Kageyama couldn’t help but feel like he had stumbled upon a milder version of Tsukishima. He felt irritated, although that seemed to be the default emotion when it came to Hinata. Then again, he could still feel his heart thumping against his ribcage rapidly, and Hinata’s lips weren’t even on his anymore. Although Kageyama didn’t realise it straightaway, his conscience knew it deep down.

      His heart was in trouble.


	26. The Culmination of Chaos

Chapter Twenty-Six: The Culmination of Chaos

      It was exactly one a.m. when the alarms went off.

      It wasn’t a dramatic moment. Hell, half the inmates had been asleep prior to the alarms going off. Kageyama was wide awake in his bed, although his eyes were closed since there was some music playing in the background. Hinata was asleep on a futon, his gentle sighs somehow managing to keep Kageyama warm from here. But when the alarms went off, drowning out the sound of Kageyama’s music and causing his eyes to slam open with a start, that was when Kageyama knew it was over.

      The C.O. that rushed into the room to evacuate the two of them mere moments later only confirmed what Kageyama already knew, somehow making him feel more refreshed than any of the naps he’d ever taken since coming into this place.

      The potheads were dead.

***

      That night, the C.Os collected all the inmates from their dorms and grouped them together in the cafeteria. None of them were allowed to leave. They’d been counted once, twice and then once more before being allowed to leave their dorms in the first place, and then they’d been counted yet again to make sure that no-one had decided to abscond from the cafeteria. It was two a.m. and the cafeteria was buzzing, some people speculating about the ‘loud bang’ they’d heard. Most of the Karasuno members were half-asleep, including Kageyama. Hinata had tried to ask Kageyama if he knew what was going on, but Kageyama had only responded with grunts and noises that Hinata couldn’t quite class as human. The thing that really troubled Hinata was that the only group that wasn’t in here was the Johzenji. He’d asked and asked, but the C.Os weren’t telling him anything. He’d even tried calling one of Towada’s men over earlier, but he’d been told to “sit tight and shut the fuck up” when he’d asked what was going on.

      It wasn’t fair.

      If Kageyama were the one asking, they wouldn’t hesitate to give him the answers that he wanted.

      “Kageyama,” Hinata murmured, trying to shake him awake.

      “Go away,” he groaned, pressing his eyelids together even harder. “I’m tired.”

      “But don’t you care about what’s going on?”

      “The potheads got blown up,” Kageyama muttered, still half-asleep. “Nothing worth caring about.”

      When Hinata heard the words ‘potheads’ and ‘blown up’, there was a sharp note of terror that threatened to pierce his heart.

      Kageyama meant the Johzenji, didn’t he?

      Hinata could feel the blood beginning to drain out of his face as he stared down at Kageyama, whose head was lolling on the table. He was definitely asleep now, judging by the small sighs that were coming from his slightly parted lips. But Hinata knew Kageyama well enough to know that he could very well be faking it right now. Even so, why would Kageyama lie to him? Kageyama loved him, didn’t he? People in love didn’t lie to each other, did they?

      Hinata looked around the table. He was the only one who was awake. Every other person on the table was asleep. Well, apart from Tsukishima. But Hinata didn’t like him, so he didn’t count.

      “B…Blown up?”

      Hinata touched his face, trying to make sure that he wasn’t dreaming. Then, he thought back to earlier. The way that Kageyama had kissed him. It had come out of nowhere. Before that, Kageyama had stated that he found kissing gross. That was why Hinata had been so shocked when Kageyama kissed him all of a sudden. Hinata had been over the moon. Getting to be so close to Kageyama, getting one step further in this little relationship of theirs. But… what if Kageyama hadn’t even wanted to kiss him? What if Kageyama had just been trying to distract him?

      “Kageyama!” Hinata grabbed him by the hair this time and yanked his head up. This time, Kageyama’s long arm went flying in Hinata’s direction, almost knocking Hinata to the floor.

      “What, damnit? What is it?” Kageyama sounded really irritated, but Hinata didn’t care. He had bigger things on his mind right now.

      “How do you know that?”

      The Karasuno dorm was all the way on the other side of the prison. There was no way that Kageyama could’ve heard the explosion. Some inmates had been raving about there being a loud bang from the Johzenji dorm, but Kageyama had been sleeping since they all got here. There was no way that Kageyama could know that unless he had something to do with it.

      “Hinata, what the hell are you going on about?”

      “You just told me,” Hinata said, letting Kageyama’s hair go, “that the Johzenji got blown up.”

      “Everyone’s been going on about it, idiot,” Kageyama snapped, smoothing his hair down. His scalp was sore, no thanks to Hinata. “You think I have time to go blowing up dorms? What the hell do I look like to you?”

      “I never said that you blew up anything.”

      “You literally just did.”

      “No. I didn’t. I asked you how you knew that.” Hinata’s suspicions were only further roused when Kageyama neglected to respond, staring at Hinata for a few silent moments. “I think you just accidentally told the truth, Kageyama.”

      “It’s way too late for this, damnit,” Kageyama snapped, a tired glare appearing on his face. It didn’t quite have the same kind of intensity it usually had whenever Kageyama was really in a mood. “I know you’re worried, but I’m tired. I don’t know what you’re thinking, but…”

      “No, no, no. Don’t try and make me look like I’m crazy. You’re avoiding this topic. You’re not tired,” Hinata insisted, noticing that Kageyama had drifted off to sleep once more. “You’re an insomniac, for God’s sake!” For all he knew, Kageyama might’ve genuinely dozed off, but Hinata wasn’t sure what to believe at this point.

      Hinata received no response. Kageyama’s eyes had drifted shut once again, but Hinata was determined to figure out what had happened. If the C.Os wouldn’t let him know the details and if Kageyama wouldn’t let him know the truth, then he’d have to go to the scene of the crime and find out for himself.

      Thankfully, before Hinata could start worrying about how to slip past the clusters of C.Os, a diversion created itself. One of the Mukankei began to fight with a Shiratorizawa member, therefore prompting some C.Os to run over. Everyone’s eyes were on the fight, since there wasn’t much else to focus on. Hinata crept over to the exit, carefully watching to make sure that no-one noticed him. When he was sure, he shot through the exit.

      Unfortunately, it seemed that he’d chosen the wrong moment. Just as soon as he started running, he could hear a nearby C.O. yelling “Inmate! Get back here now”.

      Obviously, Hinata ignored the C.O. and kept running. His nimble feet carried him towards the Johzenji dorm, and as he drew closer he could smell the smoke. He was scared of what he’d see. Scared of what the dorm would look like. But, before he could get any closer to the scene, a C.O. caught up to him at last, restraining his arms and dragging him back over in the direction of the cafeteria.

      “Let me go! My friends are in there—”

      “Shut it!”

      At first, Hinata considered struggling even more, but by the time the cafeteria doors came into view once more, he’d come to the conclusion that he didn’t need to see any more than what he’d already seen.

      “Hey,” Hinata said at last. “Can I ask you one question?”

      “No. Fuck off and sit your ass down, fucking inmate,” the C.O. snapped in response as he released Hinata’s arms.

      “Man,” Hinata muttered, rubbing his sore arms. “You C.Os could use a bit of respect…”

      The C.O. bared his teeth at Hinata, but didn’t say anything more to him. It didn’t matter. The puzzle pieces were already coming together in his mind. Everything about today had been planned. Kageyama had gone to set up the trap on a day where Hinata shouldn’t have been in the dorm. He’d gone to personally annihilate the Johzenji. Hinata knew that Kageyama hadn’t accounted for him returning from medical, and that was why Kageyama had asked Hinata to spend the night all of a sudden.

      It wasn’t because Kageyama had wanted to spend time with Hinata.

      Kageyama had just wanted to get rid of his enemies.

      Blinking tears away, Hinata sat down at the Karasuno table, where everyone had fallen asleep. And then, he lifted his head up high, launching his fist against the table beneath him. He was nothing but Kageyama’s toy. What the hell could he do against Kageyama? Kageyama was a genius. Lots of people had said that. He was a genius. But, what was Hinata? What could he do?

      Even beyond the grave, Takeru seemed to be cursing him like the asshole he was.

      Hinata knew that above everything else, if he wanted to find the answer to that question, he had to rise above the past. Rise above the past, and find his own path.

       _Hmph. Rise from the past, but you’re sitting at Karasuno’s table._

 _You’re a joke, Shouyou_.

      When he felt Kageyama’s eyes on him, he looked away, not wanting to alert the Karasuno leader to his thoughts.

      “I’m sorry for yelling at you,” Kageyama murmured, reaching for Hinata’s hand. He was still half-asleep, which meant he probably couldn’t remember what had happened, but he remembered enough to know that Hinata was pissed off. “I’ll get you something nice tomorrow. How do fresh apples sound?”

      And before Hinata could respond, Kageyama drifted off to sleep. Again.

      “Apples are nice,” Hinata whispered, “but I’d rather have my old life back.”


	27. A State of Discontent

Chapter Twenty-Seven: A State of Discontent

      “So, Towada,” Aida said, closing the door behind her, “does anyone know the truth behind yesterday’s bombing?”

      “Hinata got pretty close,” Towada responded, “but one of my guys stopped him before he could get into the dorm.”

      The two of them were in Towada’s office, the following morning after the bombing. The whole prison had been put on lockdown, which meant that all the inmates were confined to their dorms. The doors were locked, preventing them from leaving, and they were only allowed to leave their dorms to use the toilets twice a day. Any more than that, and they’d have to pee themselves. So, it was safe to say that the two of them would be able to speak without any Karasuno members eavesdropping.

      “It looks like they all believe that the Johzenji are dead though,” Aida said, thinking to herself. “Nothing’s happened to prove otherwise.”

      “Yeah.” Towada nodded. “It’s safe to assume that Hinata didn’t see anything.”

      “The Johzenji are currently in the SHU. They’re temporarily being moved to another minimum-security prison in the area, but we can’t let Karasuno find out about it. If the media find out, then Karasuno find out. We can’t let anyone outside of this room know. We can use this incident against Karasuno, and by extension…”

      “Kageyama,” Towada said, filling in the blank. “We can use it against Kageyama.”

      Aida still didn’t know that Towada was being manipulated by Kageyama. But to be honest, when Towada was this close to seeing Kageyama’s downfall, he wasn’t even sure if Aida needed to know. As long as Kageyama didn’t find out… Towada could keep on doing this.

      He was fucking terrified of Kageyama. He knew that Kageyama could kill him at any time. But, if he played his cards carefully, he could get out of this without being killed. Aida was the only person who could play an equally balanced match against Kageyama. So, Towada had to stay close to her. And, he’d eventually need to cut things off with Kageyama.

      “Hinata’s a liability,” Aida continued. “He’s dating Kageyama. If Hinata saw Terushima alive that night, then there’s a chance that he might tell Kageyama.”

      “Did we have to make Terushima detonate the phone though? I don’t think it was the right thing to do, especially since it could’ve killed him…”

      “Towada.” Aida placed a hand on Towada’s shoulder, causing his heart to speed up just a little more than was normal. “Kageyama tried to kill them all. And he would’ve if it wasn’t for the fact that you hadn’t searched the Johzenji dorm and found the phone. Terushima’s being treated for his injuries in an external hospital, and he’ll make a full recovery. He consented to it. Captain’s duty, or whatever he called it.”

      “Consent? We threatened them all with a longer prison sentence if they didn’t comply…”

      During the search, Towada and his cronies had found drug paraphernalia amongst many other items considered to be contraband. But, once Towada realised that there was a phone which could be linked back to Kageyama, Aida was notified. Then, Aida had given the Johzenji an ultimatum: Terushima would find out how to detonate the phone and have the Johzenji receive special protection afterwards, along with the satisfaction of being able to help take Kageyama down, or they’d all get thrown into max for having weed. The choice was obvious — at least, for the Johzenji. Everyone would believe that they were dead, but they’d be recovering in a safe place, gearing up to watch Kageyama’s downfall.

      “Towada, don’t tell me that Shiratorizawa article’s true.”

      Towada flushed bright red when he realised what Aida was implying. “No! God, no. I’m not doing anything with Kageyama!”

      “Then why are you so against this? We have to do things for the greater good if we want to defeat Kageyama.” Aida slapped Towada’s shoulder once before allowing her hand to drop back down to its side. “Kageyama’s not exactly playing fair, you know. We can’t beat him if we don’t bend the rules. People will get hurt in the process. It’s inevitable. But, it’s nothing compared to what Kageyama will do if we do nothing at all.”

      Towada knew that Aida was right. Kageyama was a monster in every way possible. The worst thing was that it wasn’t easy to tell that Kageyama was a monster. When it came to Takeru, his look practically screamed monster. Facial tattoos, shaved head, a vocabulary that consisted of F-bombs and death threats… he was a monster indeed. But with Kageyama, the studious-looking inmate who spoke intelligently and didn’t seem all that dangerous at first glance, it was even harder to stamp him down. Towada had made the mistake of judging Kageyama based on his looks and he’d paid the due price for that mistake. Even Aida had underestimated Kageyama’s strength at first, although she seemed to have been able to adjust rather quickly. Now, it was a battle of wills. A battle of tactics. And, in a way, a battle with themselves.

      How far could they go before they ended up sinking down to Kageyama’s level?

      How many people could they hurt for the greater good?

      Would this plan even work against Kageyama?

      “We’ll keep the prison on lockdown for the next few days while we clean up the Johzenji dorm. We need to make sure no inmates try to get in there,” Aida continued when she received no response from Towada. “We need to make plans to get rid of Hinata.”

      “Wait,” Towada said, alarm flooding his tone, “what do you mean get rid of Hinata? You’re not going to kill him, are—”

      “Jesus Christ, Towada! What do you think I am?”

      “Sorry,” Towada said straightaway, realising he’d offended Aida. “It’s just… your wording wasn’t exactly the best…”

      “We need him out of the way. That’s what I mean. He’ll eventually move himself out of here once the guilt sets in, but we need to accelerate that process.”

      Aida had a good idea on what was going on in Hinata’s mind right now. He was in a dorm with the ever-manipulative Kageyama Tobio, who was most likely probing his mind at this very moment. He was probably suspicious of Kageyama, therefore making way for doubt in his mind. And where there’s doubt, there’s negativity. Negativity is an emotion which will inevitably lead to insanity. Aida’s father had witnessed it many a time, and now it was Aida’s turn.

      “You’ve changed, you know. Old you would’ve been all up for this,” Aida pointed out.

      “I don’t know. It’s just…”

      Towada didn’t know how to explain that Kageyama was the reason for this personality change. Towada had stormed into the prison thinking that all the inmates were his enemy and he had to discipline every single one of them, but that wasn’t the case. Kageyama was the enemy, and the inmates were his minions. Making the minions angry would only give the enemy even more power.

      “I want to be sure we’re doing the right thing,” Towada concluded.

      Aida laughed, somewhat amused by the complete 180 that Towada’s personality had taken. “There’s no such thing as right when it comes to the justice system. It’s like communism and fascism. They’re both as bad as each other, but on completely opposite sides of the spectrum. If Kageyama’s the fascist, then we’re the communists. We have the majority vote, but Kageyama has more of the power. It’s a battle of wills from here on, Towada.”

      “Yeah.” Towada nodded. “I understand.”

      “Good. Now, go home. Take the day off. We’ll be busy once the prison’s taken off lockdown,” Aida said, moving to leave the office. “Also, Towada?”

      “Yeah?”

      “I heard something interesting from Kageyama about you and my Facebook page?”

      “It’s a lie,” Towada quickly said, internally cursing that damn Kageyama Tobio in his head for snitching to Aida. “I don’t have Facebook!”

      Aida simply laughed before walking out of the room at last, leaving Towada to brood in silence to himself about the events that had transgressed. Kageyama had created the bomb in order to destroy the Johzenji, but now, it was about to explode on Kageyama himself.

***

      Exactly one week later, the inmates finally received confirmation of what they already knew. Everyone in the Johzenji dorm had been killed. But since the Johzenji hadn’t been particularly popular with many of the inmates, nobody expressed any particular sorrow over their deaths. There were some minor fights that broke out, although that was more over the fact that there was now a whole dorm up for grabs rather than any concern for the now-dead Johzenji members. It was even on the news that some mastermind in the Johzenji had allegedly been able to create explosives to attempt a prison escape, but nobody knew the truth. Not really.

      “It wasn’t me, Hinata.”

      Kageyama believed the words that were coming out of his mouth, because he genuinely believed that it wasn’t him. He hadn’t created it. He hadn’t triggered it. He’d simply handed it over to Terushima. If Terushima was stupid enough to accept a ‘gift’ from an enemy, then Kageyama couldn’t be responsible for what followed afterwards. Either way, Hinata would never find out the truth. There were no living people at this prison who could tell him what happened. No cameras. No C.Os. Everyone who knew the truth was either dead or a member of Karasuno. The Johzenji were dead, which meant that there was one less obstacle in Kageyama’s journey to the top. Nothing could stop him. Kageyama was invincible.

      “I’m sorry,” Hinata said at last, bursting into tears. “I’m sorry for blaming you. I just… I’m still in shock… I don’t know what to believe.”

      This room was the only thing that remained constant. While everything on the outside of Kageyama’s room seemed to change — members, C.Os — everything here remained the same. The small cooker where Kageyama would make ramen. The little table where there’d be cigarette packs and empty yoghurt pots. This bed where they’d always sit and talk to one another.

      “They were your friends,” Kageyama said, patting Hinata’s back. It seemed to comfort Hinata, although Kageyama felt pretty awkward doing it. “When I lost Daichi, I blamed everyone. The C.Os. Keishin. Myself. Sometimes, you can’t blame one person for one death. Sometimes, you can’t blame anyone at all. It doesn’t make it any less shitty, though.”

      “I just… I don’t understand any of it! I’ve been trying to figure it out, but…”

      “Hinata. The most important thing to do,” Kageyama said, now taking Hinata’s hand, “is to move forwards. I’ll give you as much space as you need. But, under one condition.”

      “You’re making conditions with me now? Kageyama, are you for real—”

      “Stay in this dorm.”

      Hinata looked up slowly, making sure that it was Kageyama’s lips that were moving, not some imaginary voice in his head.

      “That way,” Kageyama continued, “I can protect you with everything I’ve got. No-one will ever hurt you again.”

      “But… I’m not part of Karasuno.”

      As much as Hinata liked some of the people in this dorm, he knew that someone like him wouldn’t be able to fit in. Everyone in this dorm was so talented, so scary, whereas Hinata didn’t really have much to brag about. It wasn’t like being in the Johzenji, where having a broad sense of humour was the only thing you needed to fit in. Karasuno was a hierarchy within a hierarchy. And in this case, Hinata would be at the bottom, ranked as ‘the ghost of Karasuno’. He’d been nicknamed Ghost by quite a few people, due to his nature of drifting around the prison. He wasn’t really noticed by most people, but his presence was felt by many.

      There were three consecutive knocks on Kageyama’s door. After that, Aida herself came in, her patent shoes tapping against the ground.

      “Kageyama,” she began. “I’ve been waiting for you. You were meant to come to my office five minutes ago?”

      “Oh, right. Sorry.” Kageyama quickly got to his feet and turned to Hinata, who still had a sad look on his face. “I’ve got to go. But, we’ll talk later. See you.”

      Without another word, Kageyama hurried out alongside Aida. The door clicked shut behind the two of them. Now, there was yet another change in this room. Kageyama wasn’t sitting beside him anymore. Hinata kicked his boots off and quietly shifted onto Kageyama’s bed, grabbing the nearest pillow he could see. He hugged it close, tears beginning to leak out of his eyes against his will as he realised a single truth: he was alone. Again.

***

      “I’m glad we could reach an understanding, Aida.”

      “There’s one more topic I wanted to bring up with you,” Aida said, putting one hand up to stop Kageyama from leaving the office. He turned back, an eyebrow raised in question. “Come here. Look at these numbers.”

      He obliged, walking back over to Aida’s desk. She handed him a single plain sheet of A4 paper. The header read, ‘SHU NUMBERS: FUKURODANI’. The numbers appeared quite normal to Kageyama at first. January, the new month of the new year. There were on average four, possibly five people being sent to the SHU per week. In March, that’s when the first change in the numbers occurred. Nineteen. Suga and Daichi had been amongst those nineteen. Kageyama ignored the sudden clenching of his heart and continued to scan down the list of numbers, making sure to check the corresponding months. From March, the numbers didn’t change too much. They went a little high, went a little low, but never got higher than thirty. At least, until May. Forty-seven.

      In those months, the whole prison had been in shambles. They’d been two C.Os short, one counsellor short and everyone had been angry. Angry at the prison. At Towada and his new C.Os. Angry at the system. And from there, the numbers had only risen.

      “It’s quite strange that there’s so many people in the SHU that we can no longer fit anyone in, don’t you think, Kageyama?”

      The look Aida shot in Kageyama’s direction was confirmation that she knew exactly what he was doing. She didn’t know how, but Kageyama seemed to be setting people up to go to the SHU so that there was no chance of his men being sent to the SHU. After all, they couldn’t put people in the SHU if it was chuck-full of inmates. She knew this, he knew this, but Aida had no way of actually proving it.

      “Considering the most recent events, it’s hardly surprising,” Kageyama said, shrugging his shoulders. “A whole dorm gets blown up, it makes sense that people are going to riot. Therefore, SHU numbers increase. Is that all?”

      Aida frowned, but nodded her head. “Yes. That’s all. I trust you’ll be speaking with the Mukankei today in order to maintain order.”

      “Naturally.” Kageyama laughed, although it was clearly one of those fake, strained laughs. It was strange. They’d become somewhat business associates, but they hated each other with a passion. _But then again, is it normal to hate your business associate?_ Kageyama might search that up on Bing if he ever gets his hands on the good ol’ Net. “Have a good day, Aida.”

      “You too, Kageyama.”

      Even as the pleasantries left both their lips, they were feeling anything but pleasant. Kageyama wanted nothing more than to see Aida meet her end, while Aida was feeling the same way (perhaps, not as violently as Kageyama was imagining it, but she was imagining it nevertheless).

***

      “Chibi-chan! Why are you lurking outside of Aida-chan’s off—”

      “Shh,” Hinata hissed, alarm flashing in his eyes when he realised that Kageyama’s meeting with Aida seemed to be over. He quickly dashed through the open door of Oikawa’s office, yanking Oikawa himself through the door before shutting the door. Moments later, Hinata saw Kageyama walking past the door, his contemplating glare on show for all the inmates to see.

      “So, you were spying on him?”

      Hinata let Oikawa’s sleeve go, although he still didn’t speak. He’d heard every word of Kageyama and Aida’s exchange. They hadn’t said anything regarding the Johzenji. There was just some stuff about a delayed shipment of books and some SHU numbers. Hinata didn’t make a habit of spying on Kageyama — in fact, he’d never even considered such a thing. But, after approximately five minutes of crying into Kageyama’s pillow, he’d realised that he would gain nothing from sitting around and waiting for life to fuck him.

      He was suspicious of Kageyama. But, he couldn’t voice his suspicions. The second he did, Kageyama would snap on him, they’d argued and Hinata would be left with no protection. He wanted nothing more than to confront Kageyama about what he’d done. But, Hinata had to be smart. He had to be vigilant. He knew that, and even so, he wanted nothing more than to believe that Kageyama had nothing to do with this. But every time he considered pushing the issue aside, Terushima came to mind.

      “Hey, chibi-chan… you’re crying…”

      “I’m not crying!” Hinata angrily wiped his tears away, folding his arms stubbornly as he looked up at Oikawa. “I’m angry!”

      “Well, I’ve got something that’ll cheer you up,” Oikawa said, a smile tugging at his lips. “They salvaged some stuff from the Johzenji dorm. Since you’re the only surviving member left and all… the box is for you. It’s over there…”

      Going towards said box, he looked inside to see what they’d been able to salvage. Much to Hinata’s lament, there was nothing from Terushima left in there. No orange bottles, no purple boxes with sparkly suns inside. Nothing but the memories left in Hinata’s mind. Obviously, there was no weed left inside as well (Hinata really could’ve used a hit though) and none of the paraphernalia that went with it. However, when Hinata lifted up the two notebooks that he’d created with Kageyama (surprisingly enough, they’d withstood the explosion) he noticed that underneath the notebooks, there were exactly four paper cranes made out of Uno cards. Hinata recognised it instantly as Terushima’s handiwork. And judging by the blood which tinged the edges of the cranes, Hinata could deduce that Terushima had made the origami after being hit by the explosion. There were some other minor items in the box, like Tsucchi’s small blue comfort blanket (how that had survived, Hinata didn’t know) and Higa’s jumbo bottle of barbecue sauce, but there was nothing else which appeared to be any sort of message to Hinata.

      “You can keep it in here if you want,” Oikawa said, smiling when he saw the fond look that passed over Hinata’s face. “Doesn’t look like you trust Tobio-chan very much, after all… actually, do you plan on telling me why you were spying on him yet, or must I be left waiting in anticipation until the end of time?”

      “One minute,” Hinata said. Oikawa was about to speak, thinking that Hinata had been speaking to him, but when he saw the look on Hinata’s face, he realised that Hinata hadn’t heard a word of what he’d said. “There’s something written here…”

      Hinata began to pull his crane apart, pulling until he was left with a wrinkled piece of Uno card in his hands. There weren’t many words written on it. But, the words that were there had Hinata’s heart beating rapidly. **Wait**.

      “What’s it say?”

      Hinata’s gut instinct was to say nothing, but then he reminded himself that he was meant to speak to Oikawa about things that bothered him. That was Oikawa’s job — to listen. So, he cleared his throat and spoke. “Wait.”

      “You know what that means?”

      Hinata was really trying to think of what it could mean, tried to read in between the lines, but there wasn’t really anything to read. It was one word. _Wait_ , in its imperative form. Written in Terushima’s blood. Written in hiragana rather than kanji (well, of course. It was Terushima). “I think it’s meant to be a broad message,” Hinata said at last. “This is the only crane with a message. The rest are 0s, and they don’t have any messages.”

      “What number is the crane with a message?”

      “One,” Hinata responded.

      “Haven’t you noticed? It looks like Terushima was trying to do senbazuru in his own funky way,” Oikawa said. “A thousand paper cranes. But, since he was dying, he only did four. The numbers. One 1, and three 0s. It’s senbazuru.”

      “So, what does that mean?”

      “The tradition with senbazuru is that after making each paper crane, you make a wish. Once you’ve made a thousand, that wish is meant to come true. So… that might be his wish. Wait.”

      “Shit,” Hinata said at last, having figured it out. “He’s not dying. He’s not dead.”

      “What?” Oikawa’s eyebrows furrowed together in confusion. “That’s not what I was trying to say—”

      “No. I don’t believe he’s dead for a second. He’s telling me to wait. There’s blood on these cranes. On the night of the explosion, I went down the corridor. The smoke was insane. This C.O. ran after me every step and caught up to me before I could get to the actual dorm. He was yelling at me, and I got shots for running off. But, I got the feeling that I saw something that I wasn’t meant to. There was smoke, but there were also people at the end of the hall. I didn’t notice at first, but now that I think back to it… there was someone at the end of the hall. I can’t tell you numbers, but I saw something moving behind all of that smoke. Something in a white uniform. And since everyone was in the cafeteria, the people weren’t C.Os. They weren’t counsellors. The counsellors go home every night at eleven, don’t they? The explosion happened way after midnight. So… the only person who wasn’t in that cafeteria was Aida. She was wearing white that day.”

      Oikawa stopped nibbling on his digestive when he heard the words leaving Hinata’s mouth. Slowly, he set the digestive back down on the ceramic plate, before placing both hands on his desk. “What do you mean, chibi-chan?”

      “I’m saying that this is bigger than I originally thought. None of this makes any sense. On the news, they’re saying that the Johzenji were trying to break out. Why would they do that? They’ve got nothing to return to on the outside. No money. Terushima said it himself. He can’t imagine a life for himself on the outside.”

      “I don’t think that’s such a good topic,” Oikawa responded at last, clearing his throat awkwardly.

      “You’re paid to agree with me, aren’t you?”

      Oikawa let out a deep sigh. “Jesus Christ, chibi-chan. I don’t know. You’re putting me in a tough spot here.”

      “Everything I say to you is confidential, right?”

      Oikawa nodded. “Unless you want me to tell anyone, it’s confidential. But… that definitely wasn’t Aida-chan you saw in that hallway. I walked her to her car that night since we were parked next to each other. She pulled out of the parking lot before I did. She wasn’t in the building when the explosion happened.”

      “You don’t know that for sure. Maybe she turned back while she was driving, snuck back into the prison and was doing something shady in the dorm,” Hinata insisted.

      There was yet another long pause before Oikawa finally spoke. “Chibi-chan… have you slept?”

      Hinata frowned. “Why does that matter?”

      “Well… you’re starting to sound a little bit crazy,” Oikawa said at last, placing both hands on his desk. “Listen, chibi-chan. It’s usual to feel like this after shocking news. Denial’s one of the first stages—”

      “It’s not denial! It’s truth! Aida and Kageyama know what happened to the Johzenji and nothing can convince me otherwise!”

      “Okay. Listen. I know the story regarding the explosion is a bit choppy. I’ll admit that. But, Aida-chan has nothing to do with this. Why would she knowingly endanger a whole dorm? Why would she protect Tobio-chan? Your story’s just not making sense, Hinata—”

      “Don’t focus on the why, damnit. Focus on the _how_. How did it happen. How was it allowed to happen. Not everything has to have a reason,” Hinata insisted. “It happened, and that’s all there is to it. Terushima’s not dead. He’s not.”

      There was yet another long pause before Oikawa spoke once more. “Listen, chibi-chan. Go and get some sleep. Don’t bring this topic up with Tobio-chan. Just… give yourself a few days for your head to clear—”

      “Stop treating me like I’m crazy. I’m not. I know what I’m talking about.”

      “I know,” Oikawa responded patiently. “I know. You’re not crazy. You very well might be onto something. If you get some sleep and think with a straight head, it’ll all come to you. I promise. And when you’re able to piece it together, come back. I’ll listen. Alright?”

      Hinata let out a sigh, but nodded. “Alright. I’ll be back in a few days.”


	28. Crimson Sunflowers

Chapter Twenty-Eight: Crimson Sunflowers

      “Hey, shrimp!”

      Kuroo waved when he saw Hinata approaching the garden. It was a warm Sunday morning, just over a week since the bombing had happened, and silence had fallen upon Fukurodani once more. (Well, as silent as five hundred inmates could get, so not very.) Kuroo had been working hard on the garden all by himself, and it looked stunning. Everywhere you looked, there were cherry tomatoes, roses, and purple foxgloves. Kuroo had made himself a small business, selling flowers and bouquets to the inmates so that they could woo their crushes or honour the deceased. It was something that Kuroo genuinely enjoyed doing. Although he’d never admit it, it was because it was the first activity he’d ever shared with Tsukishima.

      “Has Takeda-sensei said it’s alright for you to work? I wouldn’t want you to come back too soon.”

      “I’m good,” Hinata explained. “I can’t stand being inside all of the time anymore.”

      He’d felt guilty leaving Kuroo to do all of the work by himself over these past few weeks, especially knowing that Kuroo wasn’t on good terms with Tsukishima. In all honesty, Hinata would have much rather avoided the garden. But, Hinata knew that he needed to start confronting the things that he was scared of if he wanted to go up against Kageyama.

      “In that case, high-five!”

      Kuroo held up his right hand, which was just a little muddy. When Hinata hesitated to high-five him, Kuroo looked at his own hand.

      “Oh, sorry. It’s from all the soil. You know, I found something really weird in the greenhouse the other day. Come here, I’ll show you.”

      Hinata felt dread beginning to uncoil in his stomach as he stepped forwards, into the garden and into the greenhouse. He stared at the spot in the middle of the greenhouse. He could still see the body there. Blood. He closed his eyes, but it only appeared even closer, nearer, and he could smell it in the air, taste the tainted, metallic crimson blood on his tongue and—

      “There was this bloody shirt,” Kuroo said, holding up a beige prison shirt that had dried blood. “I don’t know what the fuck went on in here, but I’m going to need someone to tell that Tobio-sama to get me a lock for this greenhouse. Now that I think of it, I need… wait, Hinata. You alright? You look sick.”

      “No,” Hinata said at last, shaking his head. “I’m fine. It’s just stuffy in here.”

      Hinata hadn’t forgotten a single detail of what had happened the last time he stepped into this greenhouse. He still had nightmares about it, every single night without fail. Now that he wasn’t speaking to Kageyama, the nightmares were even more intense than was normal. Sometimes, Hinata would find himself lucid dreaming. Takeru would come to him and kill him. Unable to move like he had in the greenhouse, he would simply lie there as Takeru grabbed various tools and used them to perforate his skin. Hinata would feel every stab, every new laceration, but he wouldn’t die. He just kept living through it all.

      And then he’d wake up with a start, and Suga would already be kneeling by his side, a mug of green tea in his hands. It was meant to calm the nerves. It didn’t really seem to work for Hinata, but Hinata would gulp the warm drink down anyway. He was willing to do anything to avoid the nightmares that came with sleep. Anything.

      Without another word, Kuroo placed the shirt down and walked out of the greenhouse, Hinata following behind him. He shut the greenhouse door and dusted his hands off, before looking up at Hinata again.

      “We don’t need to use the greenhouse today,” Kuroo said, having deduced that Hinata most likely knew the origins of that shirt. “I’ve already done the maintenance. You’re cool with doing some watering, right?”

      Hinata nodded. “Yeah. I don’t mind.”

      Kuroo handed Hinata the watering jug. He moved to go and water the sunflowers, but Kuroo put a hand on his shoulder, stopping him.

     “No. Not those,” Kuroo ordered. “Start with the marigolds.”

      Hinata was puzzled, but didn’t question Kuroo’s order. “Alright.”

      Soon, the two had managed to get into a steady groove. Kuroo raked up some fresh soil, preparing to plant some cherry tomatoes there. Hinata had been quietly humming to himself, although he turned to ask Kuroo a question at the same time Kuroo turned to ask him the same question.

      “How are you doing?”

      “Sorry, sorry,” Hinata said, flushing at the fact they’d spoken at the same time. “You asked first. I’m fine.”

      Kuroo raised an eyebrow at him, knowing that Hinata was lying straight through his teeth. “You sure, shrimpy?”

      Hinata shrugged. “Well, all of my friends are either on the outside or dead.” _Allegedly_ , Hinata corrected in his mind. “So, I don’t really know anymore.”

      Kuroo let out a deep sigh. “That’s tough.”

      “What about you?”

      It was Kuroo’s turn to shrug. “Well, it’s been a really long time since I last talked to Tsukki. Nothing compared to your situation, I know, but… I’m still frustrated with the way things turned out.”

      Kuroo closed his eyes, thought back to the last chapel meeting they’d all had together. It had been a few days after the Johzenji bombing. It hadn’t been Kageyama who had called this meeting, either. It had been him, Kuroo.

***

      Two days after the Johzenji bombing, all the members of Karasuno and Nekoma had assembled in the chapel. They’d basically told the non-members who were still in the chapel to fuck off. Sensing the less-than-friendly atmosphere from the two gangs, they were all quick to vacate the premises. Shortly after, Karasuno and Nekoma had assembled their meeting. Karasuno had sat on the right side, while Nekoma was seated on the left. The only man who had been standing up was Kuroo. He’d been stood at the altar, sitting on top of it with one leg folded over the other. They’d been sitting in silence like this for a good five minutes until Kuroo cleared the silence, turning his head to face Kageyama.

      “Kageyama. One question. What the hell made you think that bombing the Johzenji was a good idea?”

      Nekoma seemed quite surprised by this revelation, not having known why Kuroo had wanted to call a meeting so urgently. They’d all believed the story of the Johzenji wanting to break out of prison using explosives, so hearing anything contrary to that was a shock. Karasuno, on the other hand, didn’t seem to react to Kuroo’s question. It told Kuroo everything they needed to know — Kageyama had intentionally left Nekoma out of the loop.

      Kageyama narrowed his eyes at Kuroo. “Who said I bombed them?”

      “Oh, come on. Our side of the room’s the only side who reacted. You all planned to bomb the Johzenji and none of you told us.” To say Kuroo was livid was an understatement. “Is this because they jumped you? To be honest, you deserved it—”

      “Kuroo,” Yaku snapped. “Stay on topic.”

      “This isn’t how we do things, Kin— _Kageyama_. You don’t make plans this big and not clue us in on any of it.”

      Kageyama considered saying a lot of things, _shut the hell up_ being a frequent option (along with all its variants — like, come on. Kuroo had clearly been about to call him king) but at last, he settled for a simple question. “How’d you work it out?”

      “This has you written all over it, Kageyama. There aren’t many people with balls big enough to bomb an entire dorm, you know. The only person stupid enough to try and get away with it is you—”

      “That’s really mean,” Kinoshita interrupted.

      “—and I think half the prison knows it,” Kuroo concluded, pretending that Kinoshita hadn’t spoken over him. “They’re just too scared to say that they know it was you.”

      “So, what was the point of this meeting again? To attack me?”

      Kuroo’s expression darkened. “No. The point of this meeting is to tell you that Nekoma, as a whole, don’t agree with what you’ve done. The Johzenji didn’t do anything to threaten us. They kept to themselves. They weren’t even in for murder! They weren’t a threat, Kageyama. Not to our lives.”

      Kageyama got to his feet, not liking how Kuroo seemed to be at the centre of this discussion. “Is this true, everyone?”

      Kageyama had turned to face Nekoma, praying that it was only Kuroo who was thinking like this because _Kuroo’s a fucking idiot and he doesn’t know what he’s talking about, for God’s sake_ —

      They all nodded, some people murmuring in agreement with Kuroo.

      “Listen.” Kuroo unfolded his legs, before folding the opposite leg on top of the other. “You can’t just go and start killing people every time they hurt your feelings, you know. That’s not how real life works. We’re not in a video game. Grow up. Oh, wait. Need me to put hugs and kisses on the end of that so that I don’t hurt your feelings?”

      “My feelings weren’t hurt,” Kageyama snapped, taking a step forwards Kuroo. “They weren’t hurt then, and they’re not hurt now. What I did was for the good of this prison. You won’t understand it now, but in time, you’ll get it. You all will.”

      “You know what I think?” Kuroo smirked, knowing that everyone’s attention was on him. “I think you were scared. Not just scared, but jealous. You knew that the Johzenji were a lot stronger than you. And, you knew that Hinata and Terushima were close. You wanted to ruin that, because you know what? You’re one of the most selfish bastards I know. Honestly, I bet you were thinking some egotistical shit like ‘I want Hinata to be mine. No-one else can have him. I’ll protect him forever. I, I, I—”

      “Kuroo,” Tsukishima had said, speaking for the first time since this meeting had begun. He was sitting down at the far end of the pew, an impassive expression on his face as he began to put his two cents into the conversation. “It was necessary. The reasons don’t matter. All the riots have caused the SHU to fill up. They can’t get rid of us. We’re Karasuno… we’re adhesive. What about Nekoma, Kuroo? What are you?”

      Everyone went quiet. It felt weird, watching the two interact like this after so long.

      “A lot more moral than you guys,” was Kuroo’s eventual response.

      “We’re in prison. There’s no such thing as morality here.” Tsukishima sighed. “See, that’s your problem. You’re too optimistic.”

      “Kuroo,” Kageyama said at last, butting in before the two could have a chance to start going at each other’s throats, “do you want to know why I didn’t tell you about my plans to bomb the Johzenji?”

      “Why is that, Kageyama?”

      “Because you’re untrustworthy.”

      There were some gasps from Nekoma’s side of the chapel.

      “What the hell do you mean he’s untrustworthy?” Yaku stood up this time, looking over at Kageyama with a look of disbelief on his face. “I know you two have your differences, but he has never betrayed anyone in this room. Never.”

      “He’s a ticking time bomb.”

      Kuroo rolled his eyes. “Huh, you think you’re slick with that joke, don’t you—”

      “No. I don’t have room for you and your cheap morality when it comes to clawing my way to the top. I doubt I need to dumb it down any further for you,” Kageyama said, eyes narrowed as he took another step towards Kuroo.

      At this, Kuroo burst into laughter. “See? You haven’t changed one bit. We’re meant to be your allies, but you talk to us the same way you talk to your enemies. I respect you and what you’re capable of, but if anything, you’re the untrustworthy one. The only reason you’re at the top is because you stabbed a whole load of people in the back, right? Anyone in this room can back me up on this point. Actually, go on. Anyone want to tell me otherwise? Anyone want to tell me that Kageyama made it to the top through honest means?”

      Kuroo paused, giving anyone an opening to tell him that he was wrong. But, no-one spoke. Even Tsukishima, and he was always trying to defend every single thing Kageyama did. Everyone knew that Kuroo was right. Kageyama had made it to the top by backstabbing countless people. Setting people up for prison, setting people up for max… he’d done it all.

      “You don’t know shit about allegiance, Kageyama. You’re selfish. A dictator. And, I’m going to tell you now, I’m not here for it anymore. Nekoma as a whole aren’t here for it. I didn’t like you, but I respected the way you ran your gig. But this? There’s nothing respectable about you anymore. The yakuza would be disgusted.”

      “If you want to destroy this alliance,” Kageyama said after a lengthy silence, “just say it.”

      “Oh, I didn’t destroy it. You did when you decided to bomb an entire dorm because of your fucking jealousy!”

      Kuroo made a move to push Kageyama back, but Kageyama took a sharp step back before Kuroo could lay hands on him. Yaku was about to go to restrain Kuroo from starting a fight, but Kuroo held up a hand. “But, you know what? I’ll be the bigger man, Kageyama. This shit’s over. Nekoma want nothing to do with Karasuno. Nothing. It’s done.”

      “Guys, guys! We can’t be so negative,” Yamaguchi insisted, no longer able to bear the amount of tension in the air. “So, Kageyama made a mistake—”

      “It wasn’t a mistake,” Kuroo and Kageyama both said at the same time.

      “Okay. Kageyama did something that some people don’t like. But, at the end of the day, we can’t forget about our alliance. We have been together for years. Years. We have killed together, lived together and loved together. We built ourselves up from the bottom, and now the only thing that limits us is the roof on top of our heads. But, if we stay together, confide in one another, we’ll be able to overcome even that.”

      “Yeah,” Kenma said. “The others will be back from the SHU soon.”

      “Yeah, that’s right. The others will come back. They’ll want to party. We can’t let them come back to a dysfunctional bunch, right? So, let’s bury our differences and move forwards.” Yamaguchi was gesturing with his hands as he spoke, patting down imaginary soil when he said _bury our differences_ and spreading his arms out as he said _move forwards_.

      “We’ve been burying our true emotions for years, Yamaguchi. I don’t think there’s any more hiding it. The people in this room can’t get along with each other anymore,” someone on the Nekoma side said. “I’m sorry, but at this point, I’d rather face the penalty for leaving Karasuno than the penalty for being with Karasuno.”

      “I agree,” Kai said, arms folded. “Karasuno, we love you. But, you’re constantly looking for trouble. I’ll be eligible for parole in a few years. I don’t want to end up with a life sentence.”

      “This is ridiculous,” Kageyama said at last. “You all want to leave Karasuno over the deaths of some potheads?”

      “You’re oversimplifying it,” Yaku insisted. “It’s not over the deaths of some potheads. It’s because you going over our heads, doing something this big without telling us and then saying that we should be grateful is really pretentious. That’s not how allies interact.”

      Kageyama stood there, jaw clenched tight with frustration. To say he was frustrated was an understatement. They were all acting ridiculous. He’d paved a path to the summit, but now Nekoma suddenly wanted to dive back into the depths of nothingness? There was only one explanation for it all. Kuroo. Kuroo was turning Nekoma against him, wasn’t he?

      “Kuroo?”

      Kageyama was speaking in a sickly sweet voice as he approached Kuroo, pausing when he was mere centimetres away from the Nekoma leader.

      Kuroo raised an eyebrow at Kageyama in question.

      “I decide when this alliance is over. Not you. So, I’ll tell you now. This meeting is adjourned.”

      Kageyama had stormed off in the direction of the exit at last, slamming the door shut behind him as he left. Karasuno and Nekoma had exchanged looks, all of them wondering just how far Kageyama was willing to go to stay at the top.

***

      “Tsukki’s changed,” Kuroo said, pulling out one weed that was beginning to creep up on his purple foxgloves. “He’s so far up Kageyama’s ass that he’s starting to talk the same shit that Kageyama does. It’s ridiculous. Kageyama’s really starting to go too far.” Kuroo stared down at his own hand, upset that he’d accidentally pulled one of the foxgloves instead of the weed. He patted it back in with his bare palms, only to realise that it wasn’t quite going down.

      “Too far with what?”

      Kuroo patted the soil down with a spade, persevering until it finally went down. It was only then that Kuroo realised that he might’ve said just a little too much to Hinata. But since he’d already started, he might as well continue.

      “Getting to the top,” Kuroo said. “He’s always liked power. But he’s never gone so far to get it.”

      “Um… can I ask you something?”

      “Go ahead, shrimpy.”

      He went back over to the patch of fresh soil, holding a sachet full of cherry tomato seeds. One by one, he began to push them down, ensuring that they were buried underneath the soil.

      “If you hate Kageyama, why are you still allied with him?”

      “Because he refuses to let us go.” He got his spade, patted the soil down once again. “That’s all there is to it. No-one wants this alliance except him. I mean, he hates my guts. I don’t understand why he’s so hellbent on keeping the Karasuma alliance going. Honestly, I just want to forget the guy exists. Sorry. I know you like him, but he pisses me off. Can’t stand his guts.”

      “It’s fine. I’m the one who asked. Can I ask you another question?”

      “Let’s have a Q&A, why not?” Kuroo shrugged his shoulders. “Go ahead.”

      “Since you and Tsukishima don’t talk anymore, who do you talk to?”

      There was an awkward silence before Kuroo spoke. “Well… I talk to Yakkun whenever he’s free, but he’s got his own set of friends. Kenma’s the same. He’s really close with Yamaguchi. And Yamaguchi’s close with Tsukki. So, I can’t hang out with them. Long story short, it’s pretty lonely.” He shook his sachet of seeds and began to lay out the next row, carefully burying each seed. “I’ve at least got this garden, though. So, I’m going to look after it as well as I can. What about you, shrimp?”

      “Oikawa. I guess I could call him a friend. He’s really nice, even if he does call me _chibi_. He always gives me chocolate digestives and listens to whatever I have to say.”

      Kuroo stopped his tomato-planting and turned to give Hinata a confused look. “What about Kageyama? Don’t you speak with him?”

      Hinata knew he had to navigate this conversation carefully. As much as Kuroo hated Kageyama, he was still allied with him. Hinata couldn’t tell Kuroo the truth.

      “He’s always busy,” Hinata began to say. “He has all these meetings with Aida and goes off with Suga. He’s never in the dorm. It’s cool though. The alone time is nice.”

      “Are you sure?” Kuroo narrowed his eyes in suspicion. “Things are okay with you two?”

      “Yeah, of course! We’re doing great,” Hinata insisted. “We’re doing great.”

      “Hinata,” Kuroo said at last, after a suitable silence had passed between the two of them. “This advice might be unwarranted. But, I still feel like I should say this. You remember chemistry class back when you went to school?”

      “Not really…”

      “Neither do I. Most of the time, I skipped chemistry to play beer pong behind the bike shed with my friends,” Kuroo admitted. “But, I remember some shit about unstable ions and all that shit. I wasn’t really listening since I was staring at this guy’s ass… and man, was that a nice ass… but my point is, Kageyama’s an unstable ion. And… it’s never a good idea to put two unstable ions next to each other. I don’t know what happens, but something bad happens. I think.”

      “What’s your point?”

      “Be careful,” Kuroo said. “That’s my point.”

      Hinata was quiet for a few moments, but at last, he decided to switch the topic away from Kageyama. “Do you plan to work things out with Tsukishima?”

      “Probably not. He doesn’t care about me anymore. We’ve both moved on.”

      “When the alarms went off and they took us out of our dorms, after the bombing… he waited for you to fall asleep. Then, he went to sit by you and he just stared for ages. It was really creepy. He ended up falling asleep by you,” Hinata informed Kuroo. At the news, a slow flush began to spread across Kuroo’s face. “But I guess you don’t care, righ—”

      “I care.” Kuroo took some moments to lock the information into his brain before continuing. “But, that’s not the point. We were talking about you and Kageyama?”

      Hinata sighed. He should’ve known. There was no way Kuroo would let him slip away from the Kageyama topic that easily. Kuroo’s persistence was a double-edged sword, Hinata had realised. A double-edged sword that currently wasn’t working in his favour.

      “There’s nothing to say. I see him. He sees me. We speak. Replay.” Hinata raised an eyebrow, still trying to hold himself back from speaking his true feelings. “I don’t know what else you want me to tell you…”

      “You don’t look like you’ve slept.”

      Kuroo had completely stopped working on the garden now. There was concern etched into his features as he stared at Hinata. His eyes were sleep-deprived, dark shadows beneath them and a lifeless quality to his brown irises.

      “Not since Friday,” Hinata admitted. It was Sunday.

      “Alright. Well… I think you might benefit from a bit of shuteye.”

      “No,” Hinata said, shaking his head. “I really won’t.”

      Hinata was acting weird, really weird, and Kuroo couldn’t pin down the reason why. It was either the sleep deprivation, or there was something else that Kuroo was missing. He was trying to piece it together, but he was working with scraps. He couldn’t figure it out. But, Hinata wasn’t talking about Kageyama with starry eyes and sparkling adjectives anymore.

      Maybe — and a pretty huge maybe — Hinata knew the truth. It was a long shot, but it was one that Kuroo had to consider nevertheless.

      “I can’t let you work anymore,” Kuroo said at last, taking the watering jug out of Hinata’s hands and setting it to one side. “Go to commissary. They sell these cough sweets. If you take enough of them, they can make you feel pretty drowsy. It works for me, anyway.”

      Hinata nodded. “Yeah. Okay.”

      “Hinata, before you go, tell me something.”

      “What is it?”

      “Where can I find Kageyama right now?”

***

      “How much longer do you think it’ll be before we’re done?”

      Kageyama got out a box of cigarettes and handed it over to Suga. Suga withdrew two cigarettes. Kageyama took one out of Suga’s hand, promptly placing it to his lips. Suga got his lighter, lit his cigarette and then lit Kageyama’s. The two puffed out smoke at the same time, the greyness spiralling out into the even greyer sky. Once again, it was a cloudy day. The sun hadn’t reared its head in months.

      “I think a few more days,” Suga said, “and we’ll be done.”

      “Hey, asshole.”

      Kuroo suddenly appeared in front of the two of them. In response, Kageyama blew his smoke in Kuroo’s face, causing the Nekoma leader to start spluttering.

      “You’re the last person I want to see,” Kageyama said coolly, dragging on his cigarette once again. Sensing that Kageyama was gearing up to blow more smoke in his face, Kuroo wisely shifted to one side. Suga suddenly felt very awkward, although he tried not to allude to it.

      “I just wanted to let you know about the consequences your actions have had,” Kuroo said. “Hinata hasn’t slept in two days. He doesn’t have anyone to confide in because you decided to blow up his friends. Why are you avoiding him?”

      “I’m busy! I’m not avoiding him,” Kageyama snapped, blowing out more smoke. On the inside though, Kageyama couldn’t help but feel irritated that Hinata was talking to Kuroo — out of all people, Kuroo — about ‘relationship problems’. What kind of problems could there be, for God’s sake?

      “What? Are you making plans to bomb Shiratorizawa too? It would’ve made more sense to blow them up rather than the Johzenji,” Kuroo snapped. “Not that bombing people is the answer to our problems.”

      “Kuroo, can you just… fuck off?”

      Kuroo let out a deep sigh. It reeked of cigarette smoke down here. “Well, I’m here to tell you that if you don’t talk to Hinata sometime soon, shit’s going to hit the fan.”

      “What the hell are you on about?”

      “Talk to him,” Kuroo snapped. “Just, stop arguing and do that at least.”

      There was silence as Kageyama took another drag of his cigarette, this time making a half-hearted effort not to blow the smoke in Kuroo’s face. “Kuroo, I’m really sick of you trying to start trouble with me.”

      “I’m not starting trouble,” Kuroo corrected, “I’m stopping trouble. You let Hinata keep going on the way he is, he’ll end up in Aoba Johsai. You blew up his fucking friends, Kageyama. You better deal with it before it comes back to you. Right now, he’s a loose end.”

      “You didn’t tell him, did you?” Kageyama paused his smoking, placing his cigarette-laden hand down to his side. “I swear to God, if you’re putting ideas inside of his head—”

      “No. Don’t be so paranoid. Right now, he’s probably not sure what to believe. But when he realises that he’s not as crazy as he thinks he is and that you’re a pathological liar, he’ll start to piece the truth together. And then, do you know what happens?”

      Kageyama was silent.

      “He gets his Teiko lawyers to give us the vengeance we probably deserve,” Kuroo said, answering his own question. “They open a case against you, prove that it was your dumbass who killed the Johzenji and then— wait. It doesn’t stop there. Teiko will dig. They will dig for every last thing you’ve done, every last thing we’ve all done. We will all end up behind bars, we will all end up in Shinzen, and we will rot like the fucking trash we are. Do you understand?”

      “My deal with Aida,” Kageyama began, “is that if one of you get sent to the SHU, I end up in Shinzen. But because of the riots after the bombing, the SHU is full. So, none of us are going to get sent to Shinzen.”

      Kuroo started laughing, much to Kageyama’s confusion. Suga quietly puffed on his cigarette, still not wanting to get involved.

      “Ah, Kageyama. You’re so naïve. Inmates don’t stay in the SHU forever, and there’s more than one SHU out there. You’ve been going about this the wrong way. I’m not here to school you in Crime 101 though. I’m here to tell you that if you don’t cut the bullshit and stop stringing Hinata along, it’ll hurt all of us.”

      “I’m glad to know you care so much, Kuroo,” Kageyama sarcastically responded.

      Kuroo began to walk away, but not before shouting one simple order.

      “Get your fucking shit together, boss man!”

      Kageyama looked down at his cigarette, frustrated when he realised that he’d missed out on his chance to finish smoking it. It had burnt down to the nub. _Damnit_. He flung it to the ground and stamped it down, before looking over at Suga. Suga had also finished his cigarette. “So, should we go back and do a bit more work on it, or…”

      “Tobio,” Suga finally said. “We can’t keep avoiding this.”

      “Avoiding what?”

      “Hinata.” He slid down the shed, hugging his knees to his chest as he thought to himself. “You and I both know that you’re not ready for a relationship with him. Especially at a time like this.”

      It saddened Suga since he just wanted to see Kageyama happy. He’d been temporarily happy, back when he’d had those notebooks with Hinata, but now it was as if it had never happened. At this point, the only way Kageyama could begin to chase happiness would be for him to get out of this place and not have any more responsibilities. But of course, that wasn’t an option when he was serving decades in prison for his status as a gang leader.

      Kageyama sighed. “I know that.”

      “Is it true? That you blew up the dorm because you were jealous of his friendship with Terushima and the other members?”

      “Don’t be stupid,” Kageyama snapped. “That’s not why.”

      “But you were jealous,” Suga said, giving him a knowing look. “Don’t deny it.”

      “Fine.” Kageyama sighed, no longer being able to ignore the look Suga was giving him, and slid down the shed so that he was now sitting alongside Suga. “Terushima didn’t deserve to have the privilege of liking Hinata. None of those degenerates deserved his company. Even so, I did what I did for all of us. The jealousy was just an extra incentive. Alright?”

      “That’s another lie. The Johzenji weren’t an immediate threat. We all know that. Terushima disliked you, but that alone doesn’t make the Johzenji a threat. You were jealous of them being close to Hinata and you took that jealousy out on them in the most violent way you could think of, Tobio. Don’t deny it.”

      “That’s not what I was—”

      “Think of it this way,” Suga interjected, not giving Kageyama a chance to launch into his list of pre-prepared excuses. “If Hinata were to blow up the Karasuno dorm because he didn’t like my friendship with you, how would you feel?”

      “That’s different,” Kageyama insisted. “We grew up together. We’ve known each other for twenty years. He literally met Terushima like a few months ago.”

      “I don’t care. How would you feel if he blew up the Karasuno dorm?”

      “Pissed. That’s obvious.”

      “If all your allies died, how would you feel? Tsukishima. Yamaguchi. _Me_ —”

      “Don’t,” Kageyama snapped. “Don’t make me think about that. Don’t.”

      “He’s lost all of his friends,” Suga continued, knowing that he had Kageyama’s attention now. “All of them. And you know, as much as we all like him, he’ll never be able to fit in with Karasuno. We’re not a group that people can integrate into easily.”

      “It’ll work out,” Kageyama insisted once again. “It will. I’ll make it work.”

      “The second he learns it was you and stops trying to protect you, you’re ruined. You won’t do anything to hurt Hinata because you’re in love with him. He could hold a gun to your head and you’d tell him to pull the trigger, wouldn’t you?”

      Kageyama didn’t answer the question.

      “There’s healthier ways to manage your jealousy, Tobio. This isn’t one of them.”

      “I know,” Kageyama mumbled. “I can’t help it, alright?”

      “That doesn’t make up for all the lives that were lost in that explosion.”

      Kageyama let out a sigh. “I know.”

      “You know I’ll always stand by you. But, you fucked up with this one.”

      “It’s fine. I’ll sort it out,” Kageyama said. “Promise.”

      “Tobio. You remember what I taught you back when we were kids?” Sugawara held out his pinkie. “Pinky promise.” Kageyama produced his pinkie and linked it with Sugawara’s, waiting a few moments before unlatching his pinkie once again. “There. Now you can’t break it. Cross your heart, hope to die…”

      “Stick a needle in my eye.”

      They high-fived right afterwards, Suga wearing a big grin on his face.

      “If you break your promise, I really will make you stick a needle in your eye.”


	29. Iron Cheerfulness

Chapter Twenty-Nine: Iron Cheerfulness

      Right after going to commissary, Hinata had made his way back over to Oikawa’s office to look through his possessions box once again. He’d pulled out his notebooks and put them in his pocket, ignoring Oikawa’s insistent pleas of “Let me read them, chibi-chan! Please!”

      He’d been about to go over to Oikawa’s desk and grab a chocolate digestive from the plate Oikawa had set out, only for Kageyama to storm in. The door banged hard against the adjacent wall, although it didn’t dare to swing back in Kageyama’s direction. Judging by the rage in Kageyama’s eyes, he probably wouldn’t have hesitated to tear the door off its hinges.

      “We need to talk,” Kageyama snapped. “Now.”

      Hinata was taken aback by the amount of irritation in his tone. As far as he was concerned, he hadn’t committed any sort of offense which warranted this much rage. “Um… okay?”

      “Tobio-chan,” Oikawa crooned, “why so rude? At least say _please_. Oikawa-senpai taught you better, hmm?”

      “Fine. Hinata, get your ass over here. Please.”

      Oikawa stared at him in disbelief. “That’s not any nicer!”

      Hinata quickly got to his feet, not wanting to listen to Kageyama and Oikawa argue. He knew them well enough to know that they’d argue all the way until nightfall came if given the chance.

      After saying a quick apology to Oikawa for leaving so abruptly, he hurried over to the doorway. Kageyama had already started to storm off in the direction of the Karasuno dorm, so all Hinata could do was hurry after him. Oikawa got up and went to shut the door, but not before poking his head out to see if the two men were still there. They’d already vanished through a set of double doors. He couldn’t help but feel just a little worried for Hinata. The somewhat vulnerable Kageyama that had asked him for relationship advice seemed to be gone, at least for now.

      “Why are you so angry? Did I do something?”

      Kageyama didn’t respond. He kept on storming through the corridors, Hinata hurrying after him. He didn’t stop until they’d reached the King’s Palace and gone into his room. Hinata was about to touch the door and shut it, but Kageyama’s arm whipped out and slammed it shut. Hinata quickly pulled his own arm back to his side.

      “Hinata,” Kageyama began, staring down at Hinata, “what the hell possessed you to share our business with Kuroo? Out of all things, Kuroo?”

      “Things? He’s a person, Kageyama. Don’t be so mean.”

      Kageyama let out a scoff. “Mean.”

      “Am I not allowed to speak to anyone now?”

      “You can speak to me!” Hinata flinched when a box of empty cigarettes went flying across the room. Kageyama didn’t even seem to notice — he was too busy emphatically throwing his hands down as he continued to yell at Hinata. “I am your boyfriend, you know! You can talk to me!”

      “Talk? You’ve been yelling since you laid eyes on me!”

      “Well, I haven’t seen you in days! Do I have cooties or something? Is that it?”

      Hinata didn’t respond at first. He was juggling around with possible answers in his head, but when Kageyama began to press for an answer, Hinata blurted out the first thing that came to mind.

      “I want to move to the Mukankei dorms.”

      Kageyama paused for a minute, his irritation phasing into confusion. Suddenly, he couldn’t quite remember what he’d allowed himself to get so worked up about. He was irritated, yes. But this anger? Why was he directing it all in Hinata’s direction?

      “You want to move,” Kageyama repeated at last. “Out of this dorm, and into the Mukankei dorms.”

      Hinata gulped before nodding. He hadn’t quite thought about the decision as well as he could’ve — after all, due to his affiliation with Kageyama, he’d be a target the second he surrendered himself to the Mukankei — but now that he’d said it, he had to follow through with it.

      “Everything I’ve done,” Kageyama began. “Everything I’ve destroyed. Every opportunity I’ve created. It was for your safety, Hinata. And now, you’re rejecting it. Is that what you’re telling me?”

      “Yes. I am.”

      “Why?”

      “Why what?”

      “What do the Mukankei have that I don’t, Hinata?” Kageyama’s tone was calm, slightly too calm for Hinata to fully relax. “I mean, I can’t think of many reasons why someone would willingly waltz out of a safe hub and into a war zone. What, is there some other lover I don’t know about—”

      “What? Kageyama, what the hell are you on about?”

      “Why,” Kageyama repeated once again, eyes boring into Hinata’s. “That’s all I want to know.”

      After a long silence, Hinata finally responded.

      “I can’t take being around you anymore. It’s killing me.”

      At the words, Kageyama froze, suddenly becoming aware of just how quickly his heart was beating beneath his chest. It was an emotion he wasn’t too familiar with. Fear. His heart was beating, but it still felt tight in his chest as if his heartstrings had become entangled in one another and were striving to break free. Yes. This was definitely fear.

      Fear at the prospect of losing Hinata.

      “Kuroo said something to me. He told me… we’re two unstable ions. And bad shit happens when you put two unstable ions together. I mean, let’s be honest. We have nothing in common. Nothing. I don’t know anything about weapons. I’m not a deduction master like you. The only thing we have in common is these uniforms,” Hinata said, pulling at his beige shirt, “and even then, you get uniforms in your size. My boots are one size bigger than they should be, I’m drowning in this shirt and there’s holes in my socks. Your shirt’s tailored to fit you. I’m betting your boots don’t drag you down. And your socks keep all the heat in.”

      “You spent the longest fucking time convincing me that we’d make this work,” Kageyama said at last, “but now you’re not interested. All because of one stupid analogy Kuroo made—”

      “No. It’s not him. It’s more than that,” Hinata responded.

      “What is it? What is it, damnit? Because whatever the fuck I do for you, it’s never enough! No matter what I do, there’s always a problem with it. Always. I’m always trying to protect you, but maybe it’s myself that I need to save by not being around you! I don’t know what the fuck you’re doing to me, but I hate it,” Kageyama yelled, slamming his fist against the wall in frustration. “I’m not meant to care this much, for fuck’s sake. I’m not meant to. I’ve put my ass on the line time and time again for you, but it means absolutely nothing to you! Nothing!”

      “You’re just like Takeru, damnit! All you ever do is make me feel guilty!”

      At the mention of Takeru’s name, Kageyama slowly removed his fist from the wall. To say that it hurt to be compared to Takeru was an understatement. But, Kageyama had finally realised one vital fact. Hinata didn’t care about Kageyama’s feelings anymore.

      So, Kageyama wasn’t going to care about his.

      “You want to know a fun fact, Hinata?”

      “What,” Hinata snarled, “are you finally going to tell the truth?”

      “You’re too gentle to take the damn truth,” Kageyama snarled right back. “That’s what I’m telling you. You can’t take the truth. You can’t take human nature—”

      “You don’t know the first thing about human nature.”

      “Well, I can tell you one thing,” Kageyama snapped, his unclenched fists trembling as he continued to lay into Hinata. “If I’d been in your shoes dealing with Takeru, I would’ve dealt with him a long time ago. What did you do again? Oh, that’s right. You laid there and took it.”

      Hinata’s own hand moved before he could even control it. He drew his hand across Kageyama’s face, leaving a bright streak of red on his cheek where Hinata had struck him. “You must be the worst thing that’s ever happened to me.”

      “I told you I was bad news, Hinata. You didn’t listen.”

      “You’re fucked,” Hinata spat. “Absolutely fucked.”

      “Again, I told you that.”

      “You bombed the Johzenji.”

      “Maybe I did.”

      “Terushima was my best friend.”

      “No. He wanted to bone you,” Kageyama said nonchalantly. “You’re just oblivious.”

      “You’re not getting away with this,” Hinata said at last, one shaking finger pointed in his direction. “I swear it on the damn Bible, Kageyama. You’re not getting away with this.” Kageyama had never laid a finger on Hinata. But for some reason, it hurt even more when Kageyama went after everyone else that Hinata loved.

      “Go ahead then. Go and tell Aida that I bombed those assholes. You think she’s going to put me in Shinzen? Just you try it, Hinata. Try it. I dare you.” Kageyama looked down at a watch which was curled around his wrist before turning his attention back to Hinata. “In fact, I’m meant to be having a meeting with her right about now. You want me to tell her on your behalf, since you can’t seem to do any-fucking-thing by yourself?”

      “Damn you,” Hinata snapped at last. “Damn you.”

      “The feeling’s mutual,” Kageyama snapped right back, turning on his heel and moving to open the door. “Well, I’m off. Have fun with the fucking Mukankei. They’ll tear you apart within seconds, but it’s fine! Just find a new fucking prince to save you like you always do—”

      “You are _not_ running away from this,” Hinata said, slamming his hand on the door so that Kageyama couldn’t leave. “You said that you were going to try to change. You lied straight to my face. Is this what you call changing, Kageyama? Murdering my friends? What the heck happened to the Kageyama who was nice? The Kageyama who would express his feelings to me, let me listen to his music? Open his heart to me? That’s the Kageyama I fell in love with, damnit. Not this.”

      “Sorry to break your heart, but he’s dead.” Kageyama removed his hand from the door handle, prompting Hinata to remove his hand from the door frame. “Showing emotion only gives my enemies one more quality about me to exploit. Emotions leave room for error. I don’t make errors, Hinata. I make perfection. This is my empire, and I’m not losing it to some stupid, weak emotions. ”

      “Are you sure he’s dead, Kageyama?”

      “Crystal,” was the brusque response.

      “In that case, don’t mind the smoke.” Hinata stepped away from the door and went towards the small table in Kageyama’s room, snatching the red lighter which sat atop the polished wood.

      “Wait, what the hell are you doing? Give me that, damnit!”

      Kageyama went to grab the lighter out of Hinata’s hand, but Hinata stepped out of Kageyama’s path. In one move, he pulled the notebooks out of his pocket and flicked the lighter on with his other free hand, throwing them down on the table before setting them on fire. His heart was beating rapidly, the rush of blood the only thing he could hear as the flames began to catch, licking their way down the red cover of the first notebook.

      “I loved you,” Hinata said, “and I still do. It hurts. But, I didn’t realise that it would hurt just as much to feel like I’m constantly bound by shackles of fire. The shackles that you bound me in. Only telling me what I can know, never telling me what I should know. So, focus on your empire, Kageyama. Focus on it, because I’m not a part of it anymore.”

      Hinata walked out of the room without another word, leaving Kageyama in there on his own. He was staring at the table, watching the notebooks burn. At first, he was entranced by the flames, entranced by how they were singeing everything they touched. Flames. Red, orange and all the colours of autumn. _Autumn_.

      Autumn, the woman who had come to visit Kageyama just one week ago. The meeting was still just as fresh in his mind as it had been on the day, but even now, he couldn’t help but revisit the memory once more.

***

      “Who are you?”

      Kageyama stared at the woman who was sitting across him, trying to work out who she was. This woman appeared to be in her late fifties, possibly early sixties. Despite her age, she still had strong, red locks that burst from her head like flames and green eyes which seemed to search the very soul. It was as if she’d stepped out of some fantasy tale to visit Kageyama for some strange reason.

      “Autumn. I told you that over the phone, didn’t I?” She let out a chuckle.

      “That’s not what I mean. Who are you and why do you know me?”

      “It doesn’t matter who I am,” she said, a twinkle appearing in her green eyes. “But, since you’re being so insistent, I’ll tell you. I’m the adoptive mother of two men you probably know very well. Kenma and Tetsurou.”

      Kageyama felt a little curious to know why she’d announce that so proudly, considering that they’d both ended up in a place like this. Then again, that was the least of his concerns.

      “My point still stands. Why are you visiting me rather than them?”

      “Well, I already spoke to Tetsurou last Sunday. I spoke on the phone with Kenma a few days ago. Sorry for not being able to make it last Saturday, by the way. I had an urgent situation to deal with. But, moving on. I’m guessing you want to know the details on this living family member.”

      Kageyama raised an eyebrow. “Go ahead.”

      “Alright. Well, it all started a few months ago. At the start of this year, I went to Tetsurou’s adoption agency to see if I could find out any information about where Tetsurou came from. They weren’t able to tell me much, but they were able to give me a single picture from their records.”

      She pulled out a small picture and slid it in Kageyama’s direction. Kageyama studied the image for a few moments. There was a small boy sitting there, playing with some building blocks. It was undeniably Kuroo — Kageyama couldn’t imagine another kid with such a ridiculous hairstyle — but next to him was a shorter boy, hair cropped close to his scalp and drinking from a milk box. Kageyama froze when he realised just who that kid was.

      “Are you telling me that I was at this adoption agency?”

      “Yes. You were visiting him,” Autumn responded. “It took quite a bit of digging for me to find out the circumstances. I went to nearby hospitals and tried to find out about any births of twins from thirty years ago. I was losing hope until I dropped into a small, secluded hospital. Kuranami Hospital. It was there that I learned where Tetsurou had come from at last. And by extension, you.”

      Kageyama felt the blood beginning to drain from his face. “No. You’re not…”

      “You and Tetsurou are brothers. Twin brothers, at that. You were born Dec 22nd, but he was born one minute later, placing him on Dec 23rd. Your mother hadn’t realised that she’d ended up with twins, so she ended up putting Tetsurou in a foster home and keeping you, since you were the one who had popped out first.”

      Kageyama wasn’t sure if he was still listening. After he’d heard the word _brothers_ , his heart had lurched into his stomach and it was taking everything he had not to accuse this woman of lying to him. She had pictures. Proof. Her explanations weren’t flimsy. While Kageyama wanted nothing more than to be able to deny what he was hearing, he knew that denying it wasn’t an option. As far as Kageyama was concerned, this woman was telling the truth.

      “I went to the foster home that Tetsurou had lived in,” Autumn continued. “Bandai Foster Home. Once I showed the people proof that I was his adoptive mother, they revealed to me that his mother had intended to take him out, but she’d run into special circumstances and couldn’t. Therefore, Tetsurou was placed into adoptive care after nine months.”

      “So… I share the same bloodline as him.”

      Autumn nodded. “Yes. I’m sorry if it’s a bit of a shock for you, but I’m sure the two of you will find the time to discuss it amongst yourselves. I’ve already spoken to Tetsurou about it. I told him to speak to you about it, but I don’t think he’s quite come to terms with it yet…”

      “I’m still confused,” Kageyama said at last. “How do you know so much about my childhood if you were only looking into Kuroo?”

      “Well, I was quite interested when I found out that Tetsurou’s brother was none other than you, Kageyama. You were fairly high-profile back in your prime,” Autumn said, “so I was interested to see how it all linked together. I went to your home town, did some digging, asked around and made a note of all the information I was able to gather. From there, I made a board linking all the towns, people and places together.”

      “I’m guessing you don’t have a social life.”

      Autumn raised an eyebrow at Kageyama’s lack of tact, but eventually nodded once in agreement. “You guessed right. I work as a private investigator,” she said. “It’s my job to dig up facts.”

      “So… is there anything else you can tell me?”

      “Not at the moment,” Autumn responded. “There’s still a lot that I’m yet to find out. It would take me hours to explain it all to you. I didn’t go into as much detail with you as I did with Tetsurou, so I haven’t been able to piece it together coherently yet. But, what I do know, I’ve told you.”

      “What do I do with this information?”

      “Well, you know what they say. Blood is thicker than water.” The look on her face suddenly became more serious as she slid the photo back to her side of the table, before pocketing it once more. “In a place like this, family is everything.”

      She stood up at last, holding out her hand for Kageyama to shake. He stared at it for a few moments, before placing his hand out at last. She shook it once, twice then let go.

      “Wait. Who… who named him?”

      “Your mother,” she responded. “Tetsurou. _Iron cheerfulness_. It was meant to be a name that would guide him through life.”

      “Thank you,” he said at last, standing up and shaking Autumn’s hand.

      “I hate to bring up bad memories, but I was quite saddened to hear what happened to your parents,” she said, the sincerity in her tone as clear as crystal. “It’s quite the tragedy. I know I can’t atone for that, but if you like, I could come and visit you every week.”

      Kageyama shook his head. “You’re not my mother.”

      She nodded at him in understanding. “That’s okay. But, if you change your mind, tell Tetsurou or Kenma. They’ll pass it on to me.”

      When she received no response, she gave Kageyama one last smile before walking over to the exit at last. A C.O. escorted her out. There was one last flash of bright red hair before she vanished at last, as if she’d never been there. But, the single strand of red hair on the table was proof that she’d been there. Proof that Kuroo really _was_ his brother.

***

      The table was burning.

      Fire, spreading all over and burning the notebooks.

      Burning his history with Hinata away.

      Kageyama stared in horror, his legs carrying him over to the mini fridge. He yanked out two bottles of water, tore the lids off and poured them over the notebooks, praying that they would manage to remain intact by some strange miracle as the flames went down, down until they’d ceased to exist. Kageyama reached for the notebooks, desperately clutching at the brittle paper as he tried to decipher the scrawled characters that Hinata called ‘writing’.

      Instead, the sheets crumbled away at his touch, staining his paper-white hands a cloudy grey.


	30. Cain and Abel

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Last week's chapter was probably a bit of a shock, so this is a 'calm before the storm' chapter before shit hits the fan. In other words, it's basically Kuroo's feelings regarding the whole 'brother' thing while Tsukishima consoles him in his own unique way. Enjoy, y'all! <33

Chapter Thirty: Cain and Abel

      The afternoon was quite a rainy one. Kuroo had been in the garden, staring at nothing in particular, but then it had begun to rain heavily. So, Kuroo had run over to the chapel in order to seek refuge. Upon stepping inside, he’d rushed over to the altar and laid down behind it, closing his eyes as he listened to the beating of the rain against the window panes. He was confident in the knowledge that no-one would be able to see him beginning to break down.

      He’d spent his whole life believing that he had no living family members left.

      But now, it turned out that the man he loathed more than anything was his brother. His brother. They shared the same bloodline.

      “This sucks hairy fucking dick,” Kuroo muttered to no-one in particular, slamming a fist down on the ground as he relived the visit in his memories once more. He’d thought about Autumn’s words countless times after the visit, but even now, it hadn’t quite sunken in.

      Even since coming out of the womb, Kageyama had been higher priority. He’d been given the privilege of knowing a mother’s love and having a warm breast to suckle from as a baby, while Kuroo had been passed from adoption home to adoption home, suckling on stiff bottle nubs and sleeping in cramped beds with nothing but a thin blanket covering his small body.

      Kuroo had been rejected. Kageyama hadn’t. Two twins, and they had completely different ideologies. Kageyama made a habit of rejecting people who didn’t reflect his ideals, while Kuroo accepted pretty much everyone. It was peculiar how that worked, Kuroo thought. It really was peculiar.

      He was a lot quieter now, his breathing a lot slower as he laid his head down, twiddling his fingers together as he began to drift off to sleep. If anything, he was relieved that he hadn’t shed any tears over the news. The last thing Kuroo wanted to do was cry over that asshole. Instead, Kuroo dreamt of darkness for what felt like an age, seeing a stygian sky above him every time he looked up. It was an eternal darkness, one which distracted from the less-than-satisfactory news that Autumn had presented him with.

      But, like all good things in life, the sleep didn’t last long. He opened his eyes, although his heart caught in his throat when he realised why. Tsukishima was kneeling there, tissue box at his side as he wiped away Kuroo’s tears.

      Oh, great.

      He’d ended up crying over fucking Kageyama. In his sleep, no less.

      “You don’t need to do that,” Kuroo muttered, his voice still heavy with sleep. He tried to push away Tsukishima’s hand, but the blonde clicked his tongue in annoyance.

      “Just let me wipe away your tears, damnit. Would you rather go back to your dorm with a snotty nose and red eyes?”

      Kuroo frowned, but didn’t resist any further. Tsukishima was staring into Kuroo’s eyes, wiping the tears and snot off his face until it was just as squeaky-clean as usual. (Actually, scratch that. Kuroo’s face nearly always had soil or flower residue on it.) Tsukishima set the tissues to one side, before sitting down beside the altar. He leaned his back against one of the legs, eyes still trained on Kuroo. “I wasn’t expecting to find you in my spot.”

      “I didn’t realise this was your spot.”

      “Well, it’s been a while since we last saw each other.”

      Kuroo began to get to his feet. Looking towards the stained glass windows, he could see that it was beginning to get quite dark outside. Not to mention, he wasn’t quite sure if he wanted to get into a conversation with Tsukishima. An argument over that asshole Kageyama was the last thing Kuroo wanted to deal with right now.

      “I’ll leave you to it,” Kuroo said. “Sorry for intruding.”

      “Hey, wait.” Tsukishima had reached out for his hand, although when he saw the sour look that Kuroo gave him, Tsukishima quickly withdrew his hand. “You want to talk about it?”

      “Why would I want to talk to my ex about how my life is going to shit, please?”

      Again, Tsukishima clicked his tongue. “It was just an offer. You don’t need to get hostile.”

      When Kuroo didn’t respond, Tsukishima stood up too and sat down on the altar, looking down at the Bible on top of it. “I’ve been getting on touch with my faith recently. So, I guess I’m qualified to give advice.”

      “Anything in that Bible about two brothers that hate one another?”

      “Yes, actually. Cain and Abel,” Tsukishima said, turning his gaze over to Kuroo. “Cain got jealous because God accepted Abel’s offering, but not his. So, driven by hate and jealousy, Cain ended up murdering Abel. He was cursed for life and punished as a ‘fugitive’ and ‘wanderer’.”

      “That’s depressing.”

      “Why do you ask, anyway? Brothers?”

      Kuroo let out a deep sigh. “It’s about Kageyama.”

      Tsukishima frowned at this, remembering that their last argument had pretty much revolved around Kageyama. He waited for Kuroo to elaborate, but when he didn’t, Tsukishima raised an eyebrow at him in question.

      “What about Kageyama?”

      Kuroo shuddered. “God, I don’t even want to say it. _Ugh_.”

      “You’ve always been such a drama queen, honestly.” Tsukishima poked Kuroo teasingly, trying to make the mood a bit more light-hearted. Kuroo still seemed quite distressed though, judging by the sickened expression on his face. “Did you have some sort of argument again?”

      “I need to ask you something,” Kuroo said, completely disregarding Tsukishima’s question. “Do you think I’m similar to Kageyama in any way?”

      Tsukishima frowned at the question. “Weird question. Well… I mean, you both have dark hair. Both tall. Apart from that, no.”

      “No, personality-wise.” Kuroo shook his head, brushed his slight fringe out of his eyes. “Do you think I’d be able to do the things that he does?”

      “Kuroo, what’s going on?”

      Kuroo was tempted to deflect the topic, but it was pretty damn difficult to ignore Tsukishima when he looked so damn earnest. Stupid feelings. Still making him give into Tsukishima’s questioning, even now.

      “It’s just some shit. Shit about me being related to Kageyama. None of it matters,” Kuroo said at last, letting out a deep sigh. “I’d go into details, but just saying it makes me feel nauseous.”

      “You mean nauseated. If you feel nauseous, that means that you make—”

      “—everyone around me feel sick. Yeah. I know. That’s what I was going for,” Kuroo quickly responded, feeling somewhat prideful that he was still able to counter Tsukishima’s smarts. “I mean, when you think about it… if you kissed Kageyama before kissing me… technically, that means I indirectly kissed my brother—”

      “Kuroo.”

      “Okay, okay. Maybe it doesn’t work that way. But still…” Kuroo shuddered at the very thought of it. “Promise me you’re not going to kiss Kageyama ever again. Wait, wait. Why aren’t you surprised?”

      “First of all, I’m pretty sure Kageyama’s occupied with the shrimp,” Tsukishima quipped, ‘the shrimp’ referring to Hinata. “And it’s no big deal. What, don’t tell me you were crying over that—”

      “Shut up.”

      Tsukishima smirked this time. “You’re still just as brash as usual, I see.”

      Kuroo rolled his eyes, but didn’t say anything in response.

      “When’d you find out?”

      Tsukishima was facing Kuroo once again with that inquisitive look of his. Kuroo sighed, but decided that it wouldn’t hurt to dignify Tsukishima with a response. “Two weeks ago. My adoptive mother came to see me.”

      “Ah, right.” Tsukishima nodded. “Has she seen Kageyama?”

      “I assume she has. I mean, Kageyama’s still being an asshole so I don’t know if anyone told him, but…” Kuroo shrugged his shoulders. “I just want to know more about where I come from. I want to know about my biological parents.”

      “So, it’s not just the fact it’s Kageyama. It’s because there’s still a lot about your life that you don’t know.” Tsukishima began to fiddle with his hands, waiting until Kuroo’s eyes moved to meet his once again. “I can relate to that. I never really knew my parents, either.”

      “But they’re still alive, aren’t they?”

      Tsukishima shrugged. “They gave me away to my grandparents when I was a baby. Didn’t want anything to do with me. I was the accidental child, so… yup. When it came out that I was in Fukurodani, they publicly condemned me on the news. Saying that they couldn’t imagine their son doing such a thing. It was bullshit, really,” Tsukishima said, scoffing to himself. “They’d never been in my life. Never spoken to me. They wanted my brother, Akiteru. I was just collateral. So… I ended up leaving the town when I was sixteen.”

      Even though Kuroo didn’t want to, he couldn’t help but think back to his argument with Tsukishima. His brain was piecing together the similarities against Kuroo’s will, and all he could do was sit there and let his brain do the work.

      _I had to raise myself!_

_Fend for myself!_

_Live for myself!_

      Kuroo felt so stupid now that he was thinking back to that argument. Tsukishima’s life had clearly been much rougher than Kuroo could even begin to imagine. Kuroo had at least been lucky enough to grow up in the centre of Tokyo with parents who had been willing to look after him and send him to uni. But Tsukishima… he hadn’t just left his house at sixteen. He’d left his town. Journeyed out from the countryside to the city, all on his own, with no-one to turn to. He hadn’t even gone to uni, yet he was still one of the most intelligent men that Kuroo knew. No-one could compete with him when it came to working with electronics. It didn’t matter whose life was ‘more difficult’. He’d had no right to say whatever shit he said to Tsukishima that day.

      “Why did you leave? Your town, I mean.”

      “Because I wanted to join Karasuno. I’d heard about them on the news and… I guess I was really fascinated. You know. Kind of like how a kid sees Superman on TV and dreams of being like him one day. That was Karasuno for me. So, I hitchhiked my way to Tokyo and waited. Waited, until Karasuno came and found me themselves. I cut my hair, started wearing these,” he said, pushing his glasses up on the bridge of his nose, “and for the first time, felt like I actually belonged. I came from a rural homophobic town, and the kids used to bully me. So… Kageyama accepting me into Karasuno was the best thing to happen to me. That’s why I’m, to borrow your words, stuck up Kageyama’s ass.”

      “I’m sorry,” Kuroo said at last, head hung low. “The shit I said to you… it was uncalled for. I shouldn’t have pushed you like that. Fuck. I really am childish, huh?”

      “Hmm. It only took you what, just over a month to apologise? Two months?” Tsukishima raised an eyebrow at Kuroo, who had an embarrassed flush on his face. “Well, I’m willing to forgive. As the Bible says, _forgive and be forgiven_.”

      After a suitable silence, Kuroo finally asked a question which had been niggling at his brain for the past few weeks. “So, are you serious about this whole religion thing?”

      Tsukishima began to wiggle one eyebrow up and down, no longer able to raise it any higher than it was already raised. “Why do you ask?”

      “I’m just curious,” Kuroo said, a small smile tugging at his lips. “You’re the last person I would’ve expected to get into religion.”

      “Well… I wouldn’t say I believe in it per se. I feel like a bit of a hypocrite, coming here and flicking Bible pages with the same hands I’ve used to kill people. Not to mention, ever since that ‘Karasuno’s World’ article, the pastor won’t let me anywhere near the altar during the services.”

      Kuroo couldn’t help himself from laughing at that detail. Tsukishima rolled his eyes, but a small smile tugged at his lips as he continued to speak.

      “I come here because I like the idea of dumping my sins on some magic guy in the sky. There’s some pretty interesting verses in the Bible, you know. I can understand why people turn to religion. My family was fairly religious. You know, praying before meals and whatnot.”

      “Religion’s not really a theme of my life.” Kuroo shrugged. “If there’s a God, it looks like he thinks I ain’t shit.”

      Tsukishima let a small laugh pass through his lips. “There is one thing that fascinates me about religion. The Bible. The words and verses in there have transcended thousands of years,” he said, touching a hand to his chest, “and they still touch the heart of millions.”

      “I like listening to you speak,” Kuroo said, smiling at just how sentimental Tsukishima was being. The sound of Tsukishima’s voice was lovely. Pleasant to the ears. Well, at least when he wasn’t backing Kageyama up. “Also… earlier, you said your hair used to be longer. Just how long was it?” When Tsukishima’s hand began to hover around his shoulders, Kuroo’s eyes widened. “Seriously?”

      “What? Surprising?”

      “No. I mean… it’s just… do you have any pictures?”

      Tsukishima let out a genuine laugh this time. It was nice to see Kuroo struggling with his words, after all. “I don’t. Pictures and me don’t go well together, according to the law.”

      Kuroo wasn’t going to lie — he was intrigued by Tsukishima’s words. He couldn’t help but wonder just what kind of life Tsukishima had lived. But, he knew it wasn’t his place to ask.

      Even so, he really, really wanted to know.

      “You’re so easy to read, honestly.” Tsukishima clicked his tongue, although he had a smirk on his face. “I was part of the photography club in high school. The police squad leader that arrested us all was the same guy who was the head of the photography club. He was also my first gay lover. Fun fact.”

      After some moments of thought, Kuroo responded. “None of this was in your documentary, Tsukki.”

      “It’s not like they interviewed me, right? No-one knows about my backstory. The documentary was about what I did while I was Jigsaw, the guy with the brunette sidekick. About my modus operandi. All the properties I used to trap my victims in. All the money I made. The families I ruined, apparently. That’s what people want to see. No-one cares about what I was before that,” Tsukishima said, shrugging his shoulders.

      “Yeah. Everyone only cares for the blood and gore,” Kuroo said, letting out a deep sigh. “There’s never any time for love and peace in this world.”

      Tsukishima snorted with laughter. “God, you’re still such a sop.”

      “It hasn’t been that long, you know. You’re talking as if I’ve gone on some long journey across the Atlantic and returned after sixteen months,” Kuroo said, rolling his eyes over at Tsukishima. “And you’re calling me the sop? Remind me again, who’s the one who said that God was guiding us to have sex in the moonlight?”

      “I—I didn’t hear you arguing about it!” Tsukishima had flushed a bright red at the memory, much to Kuroo’s amusement. “Go away.”

      “Fine. I’ll leave you to praise the Lord in peace. Happy?” Kuroo grinned and shrugged his shoulders, sticking his tongue out at Tsukishima before turning around. Tsukishima felt his heart skip a beat when he saw the silly expression on Kuroo’s face, felt his feet moving forwards before he could tell himself otherwise.

      “Kuroo.”

      “Mmm?” He wheeled around once again, eyebrow raised in question. His smile was still there, and it was making Tsukishima’s heart beat that little bit faster.

      “You know… uh…”

      Before Tsukishima could make up an actual reason as to why he’d blurted out Kuroo’s name, his watch began to bleep. Kuroo looked down at Tsukishima’s wrist, an intrigued look on his face as he watched the device bleep. It wasn’t just Tsukishima with a watch, now that Kuroo thought of it. All the members of Karasuno had their own individual watches.

      “That watch isn’t going to blow us up, right?”

      Tsukishima gave Kuroo an unimpressed glance. “It’s bleeping because it’s almost time for count, smartass.” When Kuroo continued to give Tsukishima that look, he eventually relented and stepped towards Kuroo. “Do you want to walk back together?”

      “Yeah,” Kuroo said, bumping shoulders with Tsukishima. “Sure.”


	31. Sono Chi no Sadame

Chapter Thirty-One: Sono Chi no Sadame

      “Tobio,” Suga said, knocking tentatively on the leader’s door. “I’m coming in.”

      It was seven in the morning, the time that Suga and Kageyama would usually go out of the dorm for a bit and walk around. Usually, they’d go out even earlier, but after the bombing incident, the C.Os had put temporary restrictions on where the inmates could go and at what times. So, six a.m. had become seven a.m.

      Except, Kageyama wasn’t answering his door. So, Suga was going in.

      When Suga walked in, his eyes darted straight to the small wooden table, where there was a pile of burnt, crumb-like things. Suga couldn’t tell what the pile had been prior to being burnt. The lighter lay close by on the ground. Kageyama was slumped up against his wall, earphones plugged deep in his ear as his head lolled to one side. And much to Suga’s surprise, there was a reddish bruise that had formed on Kageyama’s cheek.

      “Jesus Christ,” he muttered at last, shutting the door behind him. “This room’s a mess.”

      He began to tidy up around the room, throwing empty cigarette boxes in the small bin which, by the way, had also been tipped over. It took him a few minutes, but soon enough, everything was looking orderly again. He’d even made Kageyama’s bed. He turned around, about to tell Kageyama to wake up, but Suga could see that Kageyama’s eyes were already open. They were red, almost as if he’d been crying. He probably had.

      Suga went to sit down on the side of the bed, facing in Kageyama’s direction. Kageyama plucked his earbuds out and stretched his arms out. His muscles had gone stiff and sore after falling asleep against the wall. He didn’t really know why he’d fallen asleep against the wall. He just… he hadn’t had the energy to move.

      “So, what’s up?”

      Kageyama shrugged.

      “Don’t you give me the silent treatment,” Suga scolded. “Come on. You shouldn’t be leaving your room in such a mess. It takes five minutes to clean up after yourself, Tobio. And what was that on the table?”

      “The notebooks,” Kageyama mumbled. “Hinata burnt them. They’re unreadable now.”

      Suga frowned. “Why?”

      “They were set on fire. They crumbled apart. Am I meant to be able to read crumbs now?”

      Suga let out a sigh of exasperation before clarifying his statement. “I kind of gathered that, Tobio. I’m asking why he burnt the damn notebooks.”

      “Because I’m an asshole.”

      He shifted so that he wasn’t slouching against the wall so much, rolling his sore shoulders for some moments before continuing. “He told me that my presence kills him, that I make him feel guilty and that I was like Takeru.”

      Suga cringed at the last part of Kageyama’s sentence, but it didn’t look like Kageyama was done speaking.

      “As you can guess, I got pissed. I told him that he was weak against Takeru, that the Mukankei would tear him apart in seconds and that I killed the Johzenji. He slapped me, burnt the notebooks and left. Honestly, I’m surprised that’s all he did. I deserve worse than that.”

      “Fuck, Tobio,” Suga groaned, getting off the bed and grabbing Kageyama by the shoulders. “Are you being serious? Were you having a competition to hurt each other’s feelings or something?”

      Kageyama sighed. “Nothing matters anymore.”

      “If you didn’t have that bruise, I would’ve slapped you right now.” Suga settled for whacking Kageyama’s head, causing him to let out a slight yelp of pain.

      “You still slapped me though…”

      “Seriously,” Suga continued, not even hearing Kageyama, “what the hell are you thinking? I told you to sort it out, not make it worse! You’re going to have to stick a needle in your eye if you don’t sort this out…”

      “He hates me. I sorted it out,” Kageyama said.

      “Alright. Change of plans,” Suga declared, getting up and grabbing Kageyama by the hands, trying to get him to stand up. “Come on. On your feet, now.”

      Kageyama reluctantly got up to his feet, although he would’ve much rather stayed in the room by himself.

      “Boots on,” Suga began, kicking the boots in Kageyama’s direction, “and then I want you to come out. No buts.”

      Suga left the room before Kageyama could have a chance to protest the decision. Kageyama stood there for a few minutes, contemplating the chance of him being able to barricade the door shut and ignore everyone for the next few weeks.

      But, at last, he pulled some woolly socks onto his feet before slipping his leather boots onto his feet. Before leaving, he placed his MP3 on charge and admired the cleanliness of the room, relieved that he didn’t have to stare at the mess that had arisen from his argument with Hinata.

      He shut the door and stepped out into the King’s Palace, seeing that everyone was up. However, when he looked over at the square where Hinata had been sleeping, he was surprised to see that it was empty.

      “Where’s Hinata?”

      “Gone,” Suga responded.

      “That’s way too ambiguous,” Kageyama said, his mind instantly going to the worst. “Please. Elaborate.”

      “I don’t mean _that_ gone, for God’s sake,” Suga said, tutting as he walked over to Tsukishima. “He’s in a different dorm.”

      “What do you mean different dorm— hey, wait. Suga. Wait—”

      “Tsukishima, is the chapel free around this time?”

      Suga had walked over to Tsukishima, having not heard Kageyama yet again. Even as Kageyama continued to gesture to himself in frustration and yell “different dorm? What the hell different dorm?” over and over, Suga was somehow able to remain deaf to it.

      “It’s Monday, Suga. What do you think?”

      “Well, someone’s grumpy!”

      Suga went to pinch Tsukishima’s cheeks, but the blonde wisely stepped out of Suga’s reach.

      “Even so,” Suga continued, having settled for slapping Tsukishima’s shoulder rather than pinching his cheeks, “shouldn’t it be empty right now?”

      “No. It’s the C.O. service right now.”

      Suga stared at him in confusion. “C.O… service?”

      “They worship the attractive C.Os. They hang up drawings of them and bow to them. They offer blessings of seasoning sachets, place it in a hat and leave it in the sun for the whole day. When it disappears, they believe that it’s some C.O. who has recognised their blessings. It gives them hope that one day, one of the hot C.Os will notice them.” Tsukishima let out a snort of laughter. “I sat through one of them with Kuroo once. It was hilarious.”

      “So, we can’t use the chapel.”

      Tsukishima shook his head.

      At last, Kageyama got tired of asking questions that no-one was answering and dragged Suga to one side where no-one could hear them.

      “Suga, what the hell are we doing? A chapel meeting? Can’t we do this later? I want to find out why Hinata left our dorm…”

      Hell, it didn’t matter if Hinata had told him explicitly where he planned to go and why. Kageyama still couldn’t quite believe that Hinata had just left. After every argument, they always made up. Always.

      So, why weren’t things coming together this time around?

      “Tobio,” Suga said at last. “I love you, but you’re so dense. Honestly.”

      Before Kageyama could insist that he most definitely wasn’t dense and that he really couldn’t understand why Hinata had left the dorm, Suga swiftly cut him off. “Right now, we need to have a meeting. I know you feel like shit right now, but I’ve postponed this for as long as I can. Nekoma aren’t going to be so easy to get hold of after this week so—”

      “Wait, Nekoma?”

      Suga sighed. “We are still allied with them, you know.”

      “I don’t have the energy for that,” Kageyama grumbled. “Count me out. I’m going to sleep—”

      “Tobio. I don’t care if you don’t get along with Kuroo. You’re going to sit and smile through this goddamn meeting, otherwise I’ll auction your MP3 off to the Mukankei.”

      Before Kageyama could respond, Tsukishima had appeared in front of them with a somewhat awkward expression on his face. “I hate to interrupt — well, not really, I’m just saying that — but, there’s a visitor at the entrance.”

      Suga and Kageyama turned to face the doorway, where there was a dark-haired man clad in an orange prison uniform. A newcomer’s uniform. He was knitting his hands together nervously and he had dark shadows under his eyes, looking as if he hadn’t slept much. His knuckles were red and there were scratchy marks on his wrist that looked quite painful. Honestly, Kageyama didn’t want to know how he’d gotten those marks.

      “I’m surprised you had the gall to show your face here, Ennoshita.” Kageyama stepped forwards, regarding the newcomer with a dark, malevolent gaze. “You clearly don’t value your life.”

      “I gave my life to Karasuno,” Ennoshita meekly stated, “so Karasuno can take my life. I betrayed you all. I told Shiratorizawa things that I shouldn’t have. And, those things were used against me. Against us. An apology won’t make up for that. So, here.”

      Before anyone could react, Ennoshita pulled a small blade out of his pocket, flicked it into his right hand and rested his left hand on the top of a nearby wall. The sharpened blade swung down towards his left hand, smoothly cutting through Ennoshita’s pinkie and severing it from the rest of his fingers. There was no hesitation in his swing.

      He bit down on his lip, pain etched into his features as blood began to leak from the wound he’d created. While the pain should’ve only been something that Ennoshita was feeling, the magnitude of that one action seemed to reverberate around the entire room, affecting each and every member stood in the Karasuno dorm at this very moment. They couldn’t understand how Ennoshita was standing there as if he’d done nothing at all. Either his pain tolerance was ridiculously high, or he’d become so devoted to loyalty that his desire to be accepted had overpowered his desire to express the pain that he was feeling.

      Ennoshita took a deep breath and exhaled once more before continuing to speak, knowing that he had everyone’s undivided attention. “This won’t compensate for what I’ve done. Bleed me dry if you must. But, don’t kick me out of Karasuno. I’d rather die than not be part of this gang.”

      The members stared at him, still taken aback by the fact that he’d just cut off his finger. Out of all the things he could’ve done, he’d chosen to chop his finger off. Tsukishima in particular was shocked. Despite being the most murderous member of Karasuno, he couldn’t help but feel shocked that Ennoshita of all people had willingly severed a pinky. Kageyama, on the other hand, didn’t seem affected by the action. His facial expression was still nondescript; his lips remained still.

      “We’re not the yakuza, you know,” Tsukishima said at last, breaking the silence which had formed in the room. “You didn’t need to cut your finger off…”

      “Ennoshita,” Kageyama began, moving forwards to speak to the man. Ennoshita was standing tall, although his head was lowered slightly in reverence. Kageyama had no idea what had happened to Ennoshita in the SHU, but whatever it was, it must have traumatised him if he was going this far to prove his newfound loyalty.

      “Go to Takeda-sensei. You’ll need to sort that wound out before it gets infected. And,” Kageyama continued, taking the severed pinky from the wall, “if you cross me again, it’ll be your head.”

      “I understand.”

      Kageyama dropped the pinky into Ennoshita’s hand before stepping back, allowing the orange-clad inmate to depart the room. Everyone was staring, still unable to believe that Ennoshita had cut his pinky off so readily. Not only that, but they were even more surprised by Kageyama’s response. Rather than killing Ennoshita like he’d previously planned on doing, Kageyama had spared his life.

      “Sell my MP3 if you want, Suga. I’m not in the mood for meetings anymore.”

      Without another word to spare, Kageyama left the dorm, not quite sure where he was headed. For some reason, his feet were carrying him to the Karasuno bathroom. Well, to be fair, Kageyama needed a shave. His stubble was starting to grow out again. He just needed to distract himself from anything. Everything. He was tired of thinking.

      But, the second he stepped into the bathroom, he had yet another thing to think about. Something was off in the Karasuno bathroom, and Kageyama couldn’t figure it out. All the lights were off. Sure, it was daytime, but there was usually one sole light that refused to turn off no matter how many light switches you flicked. All the windows were closed. Granted, there were only two windows, but they provided ventilation for the bathroom. And, the doors were all closed. Shower doors, toilet doors. All closed.

      “Anyone in here? Kuroo, is this some stupid prank? Suga? Wait, no. He can’t have got here before me. Uh… Ennoshita?”

      Kageyama walked around, opening each door as he went. While everything was technically still in order — nothing much had changed about the bathroom itself — Kageyama couldn’t shake off this weird feeling that was plaguing him. So, he went and opened all the toilet cubicle doors. There was nothing out of the ordinary.

      “For God’s sake, it’s probably nothing,” Kageyama muttered to himself. “I’m just being paranoid.”

      Kageyama went into a toilet cubicle, shut the door and stood there, humming quietly until he’d finished. He pulled down on the flusher, pulled the beige trousers back up to his waist and let himself out once again, washing his hands as he stared at his reflection in the mirror. At last, he noticed that not all of the doors were open. Right at the other side of the room, one of the shower doors were very slightly ajar. Outside of that certain door was a pair of prison boots, neatly lined up by the door.

      Kageyama walked along the tiled ground of the bathroom, looking around himself as he did so. He felt stupid — this was a Karasuno bathroom, for God’s sake — but he couldn’t help his wariness. He paused outside the last shower door, holding his breath for a moment. He moved the shoes to one side, giving himself a few seconds before he opened the shower door at last. Kageyama froze when he saw what was there. There was a man. Eyes wide open. Kageyama stumbled back, only to fall over the same shoes he’d moved mere seconds ago. He didn’t have a chance to register the pain. His eyes were drawn to the sight in front of him. Drawn to the feet, slightly elevated above the ground. The body, the small body which remained eerily still even while suspended in the air.

      It was Hinata.

***

      “Oikawa, you’ve barely touched your plate,” Iwaizumi scolded, looking over at Oikawa’s food-laden plate and then looking at Shigeru’s. “If Shigeru’s eating more than you are, there’s a problem.”

      He’d been expecting Oikawa to shoot back with one of his usual responses, but when Iwaizumi received a brief glance from Oikawa accompanied by silence, it gave him the feeling that something was off. Oikawa had come back from work later than usual, and he hadn’t said a word to Iwaizumi when he’d walked in. He’d gone straight to the bathroom, taken an hour-long shower and then come down to dinner fifteen minutes late. Iwaizumi had cooked a simple meal, spaghetti bolognese, since it was Shigeru’s favourite.

      “Tooru, if you don’t eat, you won’t be big and strong anymore!” Shigeru, bless him, rolled up his sleeves and showed off his kid muscles. “And if you’re not strong, you can’t do your super powerful serves!”

      Oikawa looked up and smiled, although Iwaizumi could tell that he was just putting it on. “You’ll surpass me soon, Shigeru.”

      Once Shigeru grinned and turned his attention back to his food, Oikawa’s smile was replaced with the same old pensive frown as he continued to push his spaghetti around the plate with his chopsticks. It smelled good, it really did. Iwaizumi really was a good cook. But, Oikawa just couldn’t stomach it right now.

      “Hey, Shigeru,” Iwaizumi said at last, pulling out his phone. “Why don’t you go to your room for a bit? You can use my phone and play your car games if you want.”

      Shigeru’s eyes lit up as he seized the phone and jumped out of his seat, yelling out a “Thanks Dad!” before leaving the living room and hurrying over to his own bedroom. Seconds later, the two men heard his bedroom door slamming shut. Iwaizumi set his own chopsticks down and turned his attention to Oikawa, who didn’t even seem to have noticed that Shigeru had left the dinner table.

      “Oikawa.”

      The brunette looked up when he heard Iwaizumi’s voice, his eyes momentarily shifting over to the spot where Shigeru had been sitting. There was a confused expression on his face for a fraction of a second, but then he noticed the empty plate and it clicked in his head — Shigeru had finished eating. Oikawa looked back over at Iwaizumi, whose mouth had already opened to form one simple question: “what’s up?”

      “Nothing, Iwa-chan,” was Oikawa’s peppy response. “You worry too much.”

      “If I don’t worry about you, who will?”

      Iwaizumi had been expecting Oikawa to smile and start burbling on about how much he loved him, but when Oikawa bit his lip, tears welling up in his eyes, Iwaizumi knew that there was something terribly wrong. He got out of his seat, kneeling on the ground as he produced a handkerchief from his pocket so that he could dab Oikawa’s tears away.

      “Stop that,” Oikawa grumbled, turning his head away from Iwaizumi. “I’m not crying. I’m not.”

      “Just let me wipe your tears, damnit.”

      “There’s no tears because I’m not crying! Jeez, Iwa-chan. Do—do you need a hearing aid or something?” Oikawa was beginning to blubber over his words, a very clear sign that he was becoming emotional. Iwaizumi grabbed both of Oikawa’s hands, which were trembling so much that Iwaizumi had expected them to be cold. But they were warm, even warmer than his.

      “Did something happen at work?”

      “No,” Oikawa responded stubbornly.

      “So, that’s a yes.”

      There was a silence before Oikawa responded. “Maybe…”

      “Do you want to talk about it?”

      Again, there was a silence before Oikawa muttered another response. “Maybe…”

      “Get up.” Iwaizumi got up from where he’d been kneeling, pulling the reluctant Oikawa up onto his feet. There were tears marring his cheeks, red-rimmed eyes that served as proof that he’d been crying. But Oikawa still wiped them away with that same stubborn look on his face.

      “We’re going for a drive,” Iwaizumi informed him.

      Oikawa frowned in confusion. “But what about Shigeru? We can’t leave him on his own. He’s nine.”

      As if on cue, there was a knock at the door. Iwaizumi let go of Oikawa’s hands for a moment, hurrying over to answer the door. There was a woman who was standing there, cheeks rosy from the cold and scarf wrapped warmly around her neck. “Hey, Iwaizumi-san!”

      “Hey. I’m so sorry to drag you out at this time of night—”

      “No, no. Don’t mention it!” She was waving her hands, grinning as she did so. “It’s really no problem.”

      “Oikawa, come here,” Iwaizumi said, waving the emotional brunette over. He didn’t exactly appear ecstatic to have to speak to someone who wasn’t Iwaizumi, but he obliged anyway and walked over. When he saw the woman however, his eyes widened in recognition. His older sister was the last person he’d expected to see at this time of day, especially considering that she didn’t live in Tokyo.

      “Nee-chan.”

      She simply grinned and slapped Oikawa’s shoulder with so much force that Oikawa felt like his shoulder was about to break off. “You haven’t called in so long, honestly! I can’t wait to catch up with little Shigeru! Seriously, you need to bring him around to play with Takeru soon. He’s missing his Tokyo buddy.”

      “Definitely,” Iwaizumi said, smiling good-naturedly. “I’m really sorry to be hasty, but Oikawa and I should be hurrying out. We’ll be back before midnight.”

      “I understand. You guys drive safe, alright?”

      Iwaizumi nodded. “Yeah. We will.”

      Iwaizumi and Oikawa stepped out of the apartment, while Oikawa’s sister stepped inside. She stood there and waved at the two until their figures vanished into the night. It was only then that she shut the door, rushing over to Takeru’s bedroom to greet the excitable child.

      Meanwhile, Oikawa was stood close to Iwaizumi’s body for warmth. Their feet tapped against the stairs as they hurried down, making their way over to the apartment’s car park. Neither of them spoke until they’d buckled themselves up in Oikawa’s car, Iwaizumi in the driver’s seat while Oikawa sat in the passenger seat.

      “Where are we going?” Oikawa asked at last, looking out through the window. It was nine o’clock on a Monday evening, which meant that the roads were bound to be pretty busy.

      “Nowhere,” Iwaizumi responded. “We’ll just drive around town, and you can talk when you’re ready.”

      “Gas isn’t cheap, you know,” Oikawa muttered. Iwaizumi simply reached towards the radio, put on some smooth jazz and placed it at a lower volume. It was there, but only if you really listened for it. The car began to move, out of the car park and onto the road, the wheels purring along the concrete road as they crept their way down the streets and winding roads.

      And then, the blatant red light that Iwaizumi passed without a care in the world.

      “Shit. I ran a red light.”

      Oikawa cracked a smile, although it didn’t last long. “See, Iwa-chan. You’re an awful driver.”

      The two continued their journey, pulling through green lights and swerving around lazy cars as they drove further and further away from home. In fact, they seemed to be leaving Tokyo. Iwaizumi had pulled onto a highway, one which would take them miles away from the hustle and bustle of Tokyo. And by extension, the hustle and bustle of Fukurodani.

      “You’re lucky you got out of Fukurodani when you did,” Oikawa said after quite some time had passed between them. “It’s… it’s changed. A lot.”

      “I know,” Iwaizumi responded. He’d heard about the Johzenji incident. Not from Oikawa, though. He’d heard it from the news. When he’d tried to speak to Oikawa about it, he’d dismissed Iwaizumi with an “I’m fine!” and hurried out through the front door. Oikawa seemed to be beginning to crack under the pressure of working through all of these Fukurodani tragedies, though. He never showed it, but Iwaizumi knew that Oikawa would self-destruct on himself if he didn’t intervene.

      “I know that it’s gang members I’m dealing with,” Oikawa croaked. “I know they’re capable of some pretty f-ed up shit. But… what I saw today…”

      Oikawa could feel the tears burning hot once again; he could feel his lips wobbling and the feeling of that lump in his throat was becoming unbearable. He felt Iwaizumi’s hand gripping his, but Oikawa was focused on not crying. He didn’t feel like he had any right to cry. It wasn’t his tragedy. Wasn’t his fault. But for some reason, the tears kept on falling.

      “I’m here,” Iwaizumi reminded him, breaking contact with the road for a few moments to look into Oikawa’s eyes. He turned his attention to the road moments later, but that brief moment had been enough for Oikawa.

      “Tobio-chan came to my door. Didn’t knock, just came in. And he practically yanked me out of my room, and he had this urgency in his eyes. It was scary. He started running, so I ran after him. He didn’t say a word. He led me to the Karasuno bathroom, and on the floor, I see Hinata’s body. Deep red marks around his neck. His eyes were closed. It was like he was asleep, but he was really still. Really… really… still.”

      Oikawa’s lips were trembling too much for him to say the next words. Iwaizumi was hoping this wasn’t going to end with Hinata being dead, because there was no way he’d be able to keep focusing on driving this damn car, no way that he was going to be able to go home and tell his son that his favourite volleyball plyer had become the victim of a bunch of gang members—

      “And then Tobio-chan just broke down all of a sudden, telling me how he’d come in and how Hinata had been hanging from the shower fixture,” Oikawa continued, sounding as if it were paining him just to speak. “He’d tied a makeshift noose from his shoelaces. _Shoelaces_. Tobio-chan saved him all by himself. Took the noose off, laid him down flat, gave him CPR and made sure he was breathing. Then, Tobio-chan came and got me. I don’t… I don’t have any right to be sad. It’s Tobio that had to deal with that situation, not me. He had the pressure of saving that life, not me. I don’t have the right to be sad!”

      “So… Hinata’s okay?”

      “He’s alive. But no, he really isn’t okay. It’s… I should’ve done something…”

      “Oikawa, it’s not your fault.”

      “No,” Oikawa almost roared, sounding angry at the idea that this whole incident wasn’t his fault. Of course it was his fault. He could’ve prevented this from happening if he’d done his goddamn job rather than sitting around with his stupid digestive biscuits…

      “You haven’t heard the rest of it yet,” Oikawa continued, his voice slightly calmer than it had been before. “They’re writing the whole situation off as an attempted suicide and they’re sending him off to Aoba Johsai. But… Hinata’s not suicidal. He was going through a tough time, but there’s… there’s no way…”

      “Well… maybe the stress got to him. It’s not the first time a suicide like this has happened in Fukurodani—”

      “No, no, no. Listen. He came to me a few days ago, saying that he thought the Johzenji bombing was a cover-up for something else. I had to stop him when he started saying that Aida had planned it, that Kageyama had planned it… you know. It was a dangerous topic. I thought that if he went on thinking like that, he’d get himself into some bad shit. So, I told him to go and get some sleep so that he could clear his head. I should’ve known he wouldn’t listen,” Oikawa said, shaking his head. “I thought it was just crazy talk, but... I’m not so sure about that now, Iwa-chan.”

      “So… you’re sure that there was foul play.”

      Again, Oikawa nodded, sniffling a bit as he continued to speak. “There’s something scary going on in Fukurodani. One guy got his body parts left all over the prison after writing an article about Karasuno. A whole dorm got blown up, probably yet again to do with Karasuno. C.Os are getting attacked by inmates almost daily. It’s scary as fuck. Tobio-chan’s probably the puzzle piece linking all these events together, and I’m scared. I’m fucking terrified. The C.Os are terrified to give Karasuno and Nekoma shots. We’re all sitting ducks waiting to see who they’ll go after next. It’s a fucking shitstorm. I can’t take it anymore, Iwa-chan. I can’t fucking bear another fucking minute of all of this fucking insanity!”

      When Iwaizumi heard the hyperventilating, he knew that it was time for him to pull over. But, he was on the highway. He had nowhere to pull over. The signs had told him too — he couldn’t take a hard shoulder until the next junction. But, that wouldn’t be for another ten minutes.

      “Look out the window,” Iwaizumi said, gripping Oikawa’s hand even tighter, “and tell me what you see.”

      There was some more heavy breathing before Oikawa finally managed to force out a response. “Darkness. Cars.”

      Iwaizumi was desperately looking for somewhere to pull over, but no opportunities were presenting themselves. He’d spotted somewhere he could pull over for service, but it was still quite a few miles away. He just needed to calm Oikawa down in the next few minutes.

      “What else?”

      “Nothing. It’s dark,” Oikawa said, roughly wiping his tears away as he turned his attention to Iwaizumi. “I—I don’t understand the purpose of this.”

      “The night sky, Oikawa. Look up.”

      Iwaizumi rolled the window down with a special little button, allowing the cold air to slither its way into the car. Oikawa shivered, although he didn’t complain. He looked at the sky, looked as hard as he could, but still couldn’t see what Iwaizumi was hinting towards. It was just dark. Maybe there were some aliens out there, but if there were, they weren’t showing up in Oikawa’s vicinity.

      “Because of light pollution,” Iwaizumi continued, “it’s hard to see the stars. But if you focus, they’re still there. Every single one of them. It’s hard to count them. There’s billions — no, trillions. Constellations. And maybe, your aliens are out there too.”

      Oikawa breathed out, focusing his eyes on the sky once more. His breathing was still rackety, but it was beginning to revert to a normal pattern once more. The two sat there in silence for the next few minutes, Iwaizumi rubbing Oikawa’s hand while the latter focused on his breathing, looking out the window as they drove along the highway.

      At last, once Oikawa’s breathing had returned to normal once again, he spoke. “Iwa-chan, you know my vision is horrible. I’m not going to see anything. You can shut the window.”

      “I’ve been telling you to go to the opticians for ages,” Iwaizumi scolded, although he did as told and put Oikawa’s car window back up. He ended up having to let Oikawa’s hand go, since driving one-handed was proving to be a chore — especially for Iwaizumi, who wasn’t really big on driving. He preferred to walk or take public transport, since he didn’t exactly have much trust in his own driving skills. For a situation like this though, he would’ve easily driven to the edge of the earth if it meant that it would make Oikawa feel better.

      “You can’t insist that you’re too cool for glasses,” Iwaizumi added.

      “But I am.”

      “You’re really not.”

      Finally, Iwaizumi made the turn that he’d been waiting for, one which led to some inns and some fast food joints like McDonalds and Burger King. He’d been about to ask Oikawa if he wanted to grab a snack before they turned back home, only for the brunette to start annoying him.

      “Iwa-chan, you’re just jealous,” Oikawa childishly responded while sticking his tongue out at Iwaizumi.

      “Do you want me to throw you out of this car?”

      Oikawa frowned. “It’s my car, Iwa-chan!”

      “ _It’s my car, Iwa-chan_ ,” Iwaizumi mocked, earning himself a slap on the shoulder from Oikawa. “What, are you trying to get me to crash the car now?”

      “You do way worse than that to me,” Oikawa reminded him. “You even headbutted me once. Remember that? It hurt.”

      “Well, you’re okay now.”

      With that, Iwaizumi pulled into the parking lot and stopped the car at last, turning the ignition off before turning to face Oikawa. He still had such a vulnerable look on his face, and while Iwaizumi was kind of tempted to kiss Oikawa, he decided that it was better to make sure Oikawa was in a favourable mood first.

      “You didn’t eat anything at dinner,” Iwaizumi reminded him. “You want me to buy you something? Chicken Royale? Extra fries?”

      “You’re always saying that we shouldn’t waste money on takeaway.”

      “It’s not a waste if you want it. We have an hour before we need to drive back, so…” Iwaizumi’s hand paused on the car door, one eyebrow raised in question at Oikawa. “We can talk. About the future.”

      “What about the future?”

      “Well… maybe you should think about leaving Fukurodani,” Iwaizumi said at last, hating himself for bringing the topic up once again. Oikawa’s face changed, although he didn’t try to interrupt Iwaizumi. “I’m worried about you, you know.”

      “You’re worried about me?”

      Oikawa’s eyes brightened up, much to Iwaizumi’s annoyance. _That’s not the important part, idiot_ , he wanted to say, but he held himself back.

      “You’re blushing,” Oikawa said, reaching out for Iwaizumi’s face. Of course, Iwaizumi slapped Oikawa’s hand away, but it didn’t stop the brunette from smiling down at him with a somewhat proud expression on his face.

      “I’m not blushing.”

      Oikawa raised an eyebrow at him, although he didn’t push the subject. “Well… I don’t think I can leave. Not now. There’s a lot of unrest around the prison. Even before today… things have been tense.”

      “Oikawa. If something happens, you have no way of protecting yourself. And even if you don’t get hurt… it’s taking an emotional toll on you. Seriously. You need to take care of yourself,” Iwaizumi said, looking straight into Oikawa’s eyes. “Please, just consider leaving Fukurodani.”

      “Iwa-chan. I really can’t. If I leave, that’s one less salary coming in for us…”

      “That’s the least of my concerns,” Iwaizumi insisted. “Please. I need to know that you’ll be safe, damnit.”

      Oikawa used to send him dozens of texts every day while he was at work. Every single day. Stories about what Kageyama was up to, texts about the boring meetings he’d been made to sit through, at least a million selfies that Oikawa liked the lighting in and of course, messages about how much he loved Iwaizumi. But over the months, the messages had begun to reduce in number. Granted, Iwaizumi wasn’t the best at responding, but he’d still liked receiving messages from Oikawa.

      Now, he never really got to see any messages from Oikawa. Never mind the messages, he barely saw Oikawa. Oikawa got home late, left home early, and whenever he was awake, he was usually exhausted. Iwaizumi had started texting him more often, but it was as if their positions had reversed. Iwaizumi would send paragraphs, and Oikawa would respond with single sentences.

      “I’m a counsellor, Iwa-chan. The guys need me.”

      “And you need to put yourself first.”

      “I will. But I need to think about my responsibilities, too. I can’t just… give up. I’m sorry. But I can’t quit, at least not yet. I won’t be able to forgive myself if I just leave. Leaving would be saying that I don’t give two shits about what could happen to the guys, and I do. I’ve been pretty fucking useless, especially to chibi-chan, and I need to atone for that—”

      “It’s not your fault, idiot! You could’ve done this; you could’ve done that; it doesn’t matter! You can barely see your own face in the mirror when you wake up, so what makes you think you can see into the future? Stop being stupid! Stop saying you need to atone for things that aren’t your fault! I this, I that, just shut up! None of this is on you, so stop blaming yourself!”

      Oikawa stared at him for some moments, stunned into silence by Iwaizumi’s sudden outburst. There was some silence that passed between the two of them. Not even the jazz music could fill the soundless void this time around since Iwaizumi had turned the ignition off. But, at last, Oikawa nodded, seeing sense in what Iwaizumi was saying.

      “You’re right. Well… let’s go. I’ll have a Chicken Royale,” Oikawa said, unbuckling his seatbelt and opening his car door. “Extra fries too, Iwa-chan.”

      Iwaizumi nodded and unbuckled his own seatbelt, getting out of the car before shutting the car doors. Oikawa hurried over to his side, clinging onto his arm as the two of them made their way over to Burger King. Thirty seconds hadn’t even passed when Iwaizumi opened his mouth to speak again, this time in a scolding tone.

      “Just so you know, you’re not allowed to take the salad out of your Royale.”

      “But Iwa-chan! I don’t like it—”

      “I don’t care,” Iwaizumi interrupted. “You’re eating it.”

      “But—”

      “No.”

      Oikawa pouted. “Fine. But can I at least remove the tomato slice?”

***

      “It was my fault.”

      “Tobio, no. Shut up. It wasn’t your fault.”

      Kageyama and Suga were sitting inside Kageyama’s room once again, empty yoghurt containers beginning to stack up on the small table. There was a tiny shred of relief at the fact that Hinata had miraculously managed to stay alive (honestly, if Kageyama had found his body any later, Hinata might not have made it) but ultimately, the atmosphere in the room was grim. At the end of the day, it was still Kageyama’s fault. Hinata had been recovering from the mental abuse Takeru had subjected him to. Hinata had been strengthening his friendships and his relationship with Kageyama. But then, Kageyama’s stupidity had ended up setting Hinata’s recovery process several steps back. Or, in simpler terms, Kageyama had fucked it all up for Hinata.

      “It was my fault.”

      Suga sighed, realising that no matter how many times he tried to shake some sense into Kageyama, it wouldn’t stop him from believing that the Hinata incident was all his fault. “He’s been through a lot since he got here. You can’t blame yourself for it. There’s most likely a lot of factors that went into his decision.”

      “It was my fault.”

      “No. It wasn’t,” Suga said, pulling the weary Kageyama up to his feet. “Come on. Get some sleep.”

      “It was… it was my fault,” he mumbled, his voice cracking. “I love him, Suga.”

      “Shh. I know,” Suga said, pulling the blankets back on Kageyama’s bed. “Get in, alright? I’ll stay here until you’re asleep.”

      Kageyama nodded and clambered into the sheets, although he didn’t move to pull them over himself. Suga ended up doing it.

      It was August 1st, one week since the incident had occurred. Kiyoko and Oikawa had done a talk the next day, saying that suicide was never the answer and if anyone in the room was considering it, they should get help before it was too late. There was a lot of confusion over Hinata’s hanging. While Hinata had been called the ‘ghost’ by many due to his nature of drifting around the prison, his absence was still felt around the prison. On that day, there’d been heavy rain. It had carried on throughout the week, and today was no exception.

      “I don’t know why I do it. I was just… I let my emotions fuck shit up. Rather than trying to fix things, I got angry and I yelled and I drove him over the edge—”

      “No. No. It wasn’t just you—”

      “But it was me who delivered the final blow. You can’t deny that,” Kageyama said, finally looking Suga in the eyes. “Everything before doesn’t matter. It’s the final blow that did it. I did that. I almost killed him, Suga.”

      Just from the look in Kageyama’s eyes, Suga could already tell that it would be difficult to convince Kageyama otherwise. Kageyama had been holed up in his room day after day wallowing in his own self-pity, after all. Suga went over to Kageyama’s MP3 dock and turned it on. Almost instantly, a soft guitar began to weave its magic in the atmosphere, chord changes and fun little riffs that Suga couldn’t help but tap his fingers to. While Kageyama didn’t really seem to be listening to the music, Suga knew that the music would be there to give Kageyama something else to focus on.

      “Maybe you weren’t ready for a relationship just yet,” Suga quietly said after a few tracks had played on the MP3 dock. “You two come from different backgrounds. Even if Hinata was involved with gang activity in the past… he’s not as used to crime as you are.”

      “What about you and Keishin?”

      Suga walked over to the other side of the bed, tucked the blanket there as well. “Well, that’s different. I don’t really have the kind of emotional baggage you do — not that I’m saying it’s your fault, though! I just mean… you know, I’m happy with my life. Of course, it would be nice to be on the outside with Keishin, but it’s not worth agonising about. I’ve got a lot of hope.”

      “No, I mean you and Keishin. Different backgrounds,” Kageyama mumbled.

      “Oh. Well, I mean, we’ve talked about it. But it doesn’t affect our relationship. Keishin’s used to crime. I mean, his dad owns a prison. He’s heard it all. Besides, Keishin and I aren’t too far off. We’ve both thrown away opportunities in order to appease others. We’ve both made mistakes. Done things for the greater good. If anything, our backgrounds aren’t really that different,” Suga mused, walking over to Kageyama’s fridge and grabbing a bottle of water. “The only difference is that he had good influences in his life. I didn’t. So…”

      Suga drifted off as he opened his bottle of water, shrugging his shoulders as he began to chug the liquid down. He opened his mouth moments later to make a comment, however. “God, I wish this was wine…”

      “So,” Kageyama quietly commented, “what you’re saying is that I ruined Hinata…”

      “No, no, no. You didn’t ruin him. He’s got his own emotional baggage too.”

      “But if he has emotional baggage like me, then why are we so different?” Kageyama was really struggling to understand it. “When it’s just us, in this room, it’s like we’re in this hub. Like, a place. You know. A hub, like a happy hub rather than behind the walls of a penitentiary. I don’t know. I mean, I know he’s younger than me, so he’s childish and all, but I just… I don’t know…”

      “Childhoods, Tobio. That’s where differences are formed. Have you ever spoken to Hinata about his?”

      Kageyama frowned. “No. Not really…”

      “His family? Life on the outside?”

      “I only know about his volleyball. Nothing else,” Kageyama admitted.

      “Well, I’ll tell you the obvious. He grew up in a healthy, middle-class home, had friends, went to school and never had to run away from his home town. Already, that sets you two apart from one another. Not to mention, even now… you two don’t have much in common, do you? I know that ‘opposites attract’ is a thing, but just because opposites have the ability to attract doesn’t mean that it’s a good thing. If that makes sense…”

      “I know that,” Kageyama muttered. “But I love him.”

      “And he loves you too. But… you’re a tad too possessive when it comes to him, Tobio. You need to put yourself in Hinata’s shoes and imagine what you’d do if you were seeing things from his perspective. Then… you’ll understand.”

      “I can’t understand. I’m not him. I can’t see things the way he sees things.”

      “In that case, you’ll have to ask him. If you get a chance, anyway…”

      Suga didn’t exactly want to say it. Kageyama probably already knew it too. Once someone got sent to Aoba Johsai, there was no coming back. It was near impossible.

      “Can you tell me a story? A happy one,” Kageyama requested.

      Suga was quick to pounce on the change of topic — after all, it probably wasn’t the best idea to linger on the topic on Hinata while Kageyama was feeling as guilty as he felt right now.

      “Sure. You wanna hear about one of the greatest times I fell in love or the first time I discovered Beyoncé’s music? I’ll give you a spoiler, it’s the same story either way.”

      Kageyama raised an eyebrow in response.

      “Okay, Queen B it is! Get comfortable,” Suga warned him, “because this story’s going to be a rollercoaster.”

      Kageyama raised his other eyebrow, but didn’t complain.

      At this point, he was willing to listen to anything that would help him to forget the pain in his chest. He wasn’t dying of a broken heart — no, no. Not like Daichi.

      This pain was destroying each and every defence he’d set up around his heart to protect himself. The pain itself wouldn’t kill him, as much as Kageyama might’ve preferred it to be that way.

      No.

      It was this vulnerability that was going to kill him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry


	32. Rise of the Queen

Chapter Thirty-Two: Rise of the Queen

      “Hey, Aida-chan? We need to talk,” Oikawa began, hesitantly stepping into her office. A week had passed since the Hinata incident, and it had been weighing heavy on Oikawa’s conscience. While he’d been terrified to confront the situation in fear of getting himself entangled in some serious business, he’d eventually ended up going against his fear and confronting the situation head-on. He was a law-abiding citizen who worked hard and was well-liked by most people he met. Even if he made a ‘wrong move’, all of those things would protect him in the case that things went wrong.

      But… why should things go wrong? Aida was just the executive warden, right?

      “Sure,” Aida responded, looking up at Oikawa. “Something up? You don’t seem like yourself.”

      Oikawa didn’t respond at first. He shut the door, his heart thumping hard as he realised just what he was doing. He knew that he would gain absolutely nothing from putting his job on the line with this one conversation, but… he couldn’t sit by and pretend that nothing was happening. He couldn’t.

      That was why he had his phone in his pocket, quietly recording every single thing that was being said.

      “It’s about chibi-chan,” was Oikawa’s response.

      “Ah, right. I assume you mean Hinata Shouyou. It really is unfortunate what happened to him, huh?” Aida gestured towards the plush red seat before continuing to speak. “Anyway, you may sit down.”

      Oikawa did as told, although he was already beginning to feel uneasy. Aida’s tone hadn’t been sincere. Rather, the unfortunate nature of what had happened to Hinata had been a little afterthought, something to lead into her final request for him to sit down.

      “So,” Aida continued, “what’s your query?”

      “I… I think there needs to be a bit more investigation into the circumstances behind chibi-chan’s suicide attempt,” Oikawa explained. “As his counsellor, I’m not convinced that he was suicidal.”

      “Well, these are criminals. They’re masters at lying, masters at hiding their true feelings. If these criminals wore their suicidal thoughts the same way they carry knives around and expect not to be apprehended, this prison would be a shambles,” Aida responded, her tone business-like and brisk.

      “We’re not talking about criminals. We’re talking about a human being,” Oikawa emphasised. “He’s a human being, first and foremost. Not a criminal. Not an ‘accessory’. His crimes don’t define him. The fact that we’re brushing this under the rug is what defines him. This defines him as someone who doesn’t deserve a full investigation. Defining him as a prison commodity. That’s how you’re defining him, Aida!”

      A slight frown formed on Aida’s lips. “Now, Oikawa, I think you need to calm down—”

      “No, I’m perfectly calm,” Oikawa continued, even as his heart continued to thrum against his chest. “But, I’m sure chibi-chan’s not.”

      There was a brief silence which passed before Aida spoke.

      “Listen. As your superior,” Aida began, “I can assure you that we’ve carried out the standard investigation. We’ve looked at his record and looked into his mental health. It’s been on a steady decline, so our decision to send him to Aoba Johsai wasn’t an uninformed one. It was the best decision for Hinata.”

      “No,” Oikawa said, shaking his head. “It was the best decision for you.”

      “Excuse me?”

      “You heard me,” Oikawa continued, having forgotten about his fear. No, fear didn’t compare to what Oikawa was feeling right now. How could Oikawa have ever considered rolling over and letting Aida exact her reign over this prison? That… that was synonymous with cowardice. And Oikawa had never been a coward.

      Never.

      “I don’t know what you’re doing, but whatever it is, it’s illegal,” Oikawa threatened. “Chibi-chan’s ‘decline’ in mental health? That’s not his fault. That’s yours for not ensuring his safety in this prison! That’s Towada’s fault for turning a blind eye to what was happening to him back when Takeru was here! And most of all, that’s my fault for not listening to him when he warned me what was happening.”

      “Oikawa, you realise the magnitude of what you’re accusing me of—”

      “I’m not accusing you of anything,” Oikawa smoothly cut through, pressing a hand down on her desk as he leaned forwards to stare into those brown eyes of her. “I’m telling you, Aida-chan. I know what you’re doing.”

      Aida still had that nonchalant expression on her face, almost as if she thought that Oikawa was talking hogwash. Oikawa hated that expression. He was waiting for her to show her true colours, waiting for her to say _something_ that he could use against her.

      “If you’re going to do something like this in the future,” Aida began at last, “try not to have the speaker of your phone sticking out of your pocket. It’s a dead giveaway.”

      Oikawa looked down at his breast pocket, where his phone was indeed sticking out.

      “I—I don’t know what you mean,” Oikawa stubbornly responded, determined to squeeze the truth out of her as he slapped a hand over the speaker of his phone. “But… my point stands. I get you have a job to do. I get you’re getting paid to get rid of Tobio-chan. That doesn’t mean you have to burn everyone else around him.”

      “Yes, it does,” Aida responded, a malicious smirk curling at the corners of her lips. “Because, anyone that’s close to him is nothing but an extension of him. It’s like Medusa. He’s the body, and that Karasuno gang of his are the snakes on top. You’ve got to burn a couple of snakes to cut the body down, don’t you think?”

      “That’s disgusting,” Oikawa spat. “They’re not snakes. They’re humans—”

      “Oh, look at that. How interesting,” Aida said, her voice just as sweet as it had been when Oikawa had entered. “There’s a new counsellor application on my table. This guy’s from Shinzen. Trained in the army. Got booted from his last job for torturing three inmates in a hot shower. Two died, and the third’s in hospital with critical burns. Say, if you’re so busy fussing over what you think I’m doing, I might need to bring in a new counsellor to keep things under control…”

      Oikawa was being threatened.

      He wasn’t stupid enough that he couldn’t see that, after all.

      He gritted his teeth and pushed both hands against Aida’s table, hearing the screech of the chair legs as they scraped against the floor and pushed back. Once his chair was pushed out, he stood up, regarding her with a critical eye the entire time. Aida was definitely up to no good. That was true.

      But, he understood what she was saying. If he didn’t stop pushing this topic, she’d give his job to some inmate-killing counsellor.

      He’d not only lose his source of income, but he’d be letting the guys at this prison down. He’d let Hinata down, that was true… but getting himself fired wouldn’t solve anything. It would only make things worse.

      “Have a good day, Aida-chan,” he sang, feeling nowhere near as sunny as his voice indicated. He was sure that his facial expression was giving that sentiment away, but he didn’t care. At this point… prison was all about playing the part.

      “You too, Oikawa.”

***

      “Where’s Kageyama?”

      “Asleep,” Suga responded, pulling Kuroo out of the garden. It was one p.m., right after the end of lunch, and Suga had decided to go and pull on Kuroo’s ear since he needed a second opinion. “Listen. I don’t think Hinata committed suicide because he wanted to. I don’t think he wanted to die.”

      “What?” Kuroo turned to face Suga with an incredulous look, not quite understanding what Suga was getting at. “You’re saying he accidentally took his shoes off, accidentally tied his shoelaces into a noose, accidentally hooked it up to the shower and accidentally got his neck stuck in the noose.”

      “No, Kuroo. I’m saying that someone forced him to do it.”

      Kuroo frowned. “Again, how does someone get forced to hang themselves? You’re not making sense.”

      “He left the dorm around six-forty. Made his bed, thanked me for my hospitality and left. Tobio went to the bathroom at quarter past seven. That’s a thirty-five minute gap,” Suga said, going slowly to make sure that Kuroo was following his train of thought. “If Hinata had gone to kill himself straightaway, he would’ve been dead by the time Tobio found him. In those thirty-five minutes, Hinata spoke to someone. Possibly multiple someones. There’s two options, one more likely than the other. Due to his connections with Tobio and the rest of us, they threatened him. Or, Hinata stumbled across something that he shouldn’t have.”

      “I’m confused,” Kuroo said at last. “Why aren’t you telling Kageyama this?”

      “Because we don’t need another Johzenji incident.”

      Every time Kageyama got in his emotions, he’d often end up doing something unnecessarily violent. Suga had witnessed it time and time again. Besides, even if Suga decided to tell Kageyama about his theories, chances were that Kageyama would just… shut off. Kageyama had been out of commission ever since the incident, although Suga couldn’t blame Kageyama for being so torn up over what had happened. Suga knew what it felt like to lose a loved one. The fear of losing someone was almost as bad as the occurrence itself.

      “So… you’re saying that Hinata was coerced into killing himself.”

      “That’s what I think,” Suga said. “We’re going to play detectives, okay? We need to think about who Hinata would’ve last spoken to and we need to know what his general mood was at the time. So…”

      “Oikawa would be good to try,” Kuroo suggested. “Hinata goes to speak to him most days. Takeda-sensei, too. Hinata has to go down for his medication. I don’t know what time he goes down for it, but I assume he goes in the morning. Inmate-wise, we could think about anyone who has a grudge against Hinata. We also need to think about what they could use against Hinata. Knowledge. Secrets. Family.”

      “Ahh, Kuroo! You’re good at this. Should we get the others together? I think it should be a team effort,” Suga pondered out loud, folding his arms as he looked around himself.

      “I don’t think we should bring everyone into this,” Kuroo replied after some thought. “Unless it affects us directly, there’s not much reason to do that. I’m definitely willing to help. I can get Kai to do a bit too. But I think everyone else would question it…”

      “I think it does affect us,” Suga countered. “Tobio’s out of commission. If anyone wanted to plan an uprising against us, now would be the best time to do it. I mean… Kuroo, let me be honest with you. The timing’s fishy. The circumstances are fishy. Everything about this is fishy. Honestly, you know what? I think that we’re all being played by some secret mastermind who plans to get us all out of this prison and in Shinzen. That’s what I think.”

      “Suga. I see what you’re thinking and all, but come on. Don’t you think that’s a bit of a reach? Secret mastermind? Shinzen? The only masterminds I know are either in Karasuno or Nekoma.”

      “Takeru? He wasn’t part of us. Hell, we weren’t even scared of him at the start. But he turned out to be so much bigger than we could’ve imagined,” Suga reminded Kuroo, even going as far as to emphasise Takeru’s enormousness with his hands. “There are almost five hundred men in this prison. Over five-hundred, if you count the C.Os. And you’re telling me that there’s only a handful of masterminds?”

      “Doing a couple of tricks doesn’t make someone a mastermind. So, yeah,” Kuroo countered with a shrug, “I am telling you that. Besides, Takeru isn’t a mastermind. Kageyama’s the best example of a mastermind, even though it annoys me to admit it. He’s really fucking intelligent. At least, when he’s not clouded by his insecurities or jealousy. But Takeru, he just went and threatened people without any actual thought. He was closed-minded.”

      “No. Listen. Tobio’s intelligent when it comes to planning. He knows how crime works. But Takeru? He didn’t just understand crime. He lived it, every single day of his life. It doesn’t matter if Takeru was a lot more impulsive than Tobio. You and I both know how fucked up that guy was,” Suga reminded Kuroo, putting special emphasis on ‘fucked up’. The grimace on Kuroo’s face was more than evidence enough that he definitely remembered just how fucked up of a person Takeru had been.

      “I know Tobio’s done some fucked things,” Suga continued, “but he does what he does to maintain his place at the top. Whatever Takeru did was because he liked making people suffer. He was a monster, and that’s the exact reason why he might’ve just made it to the top. Everything was leaning in Takeru’s favour. The only reason Tobio won is… well… I don’t know how to word it…”

      “I think the word you’re looking for is deception.”

      “Yeah. That. But, my point is, if it had just been Takeru and Tobio with no outside forces whatsoever, Takeru would’ve won,” Suga insisted. “Tobio won because he had more influence than Takeru. He was already at the top of the prison when Takeru arrived, but even then, Tobio struggled to defeat him. If their battle had been on equal footing rather than Tobio looming above him, we wouldn’t be here right now. Takeru was much stronger than we were.”

      “Fine. You win,” Kuroo admitted, letting out a sigh. “I’ll get the others involved.”

      “Great. We’ll meet in the chapel twenty minutes from now.”

      “Make it fifteen.”

***

      Towada stared at his office door, eyes plastered wide open as his hand moved to grab his coffee cup and tilt it to his lips. He placed it down, cleared his throat and continued to stare. He was waiting for Kageyama to storm in, waiting for Kageyama to come and ruin his life in some sort of way.

      Instead, his phone rang.

      “H—Hello?”

      He’d flipped the phone open and tilted it to his ear, but he hadn’t stopped staring at the door. He wanted nothing more than for Kageyama to come and threaten him so that he could stop trembling in fear already.

      “Yoshiki. It’s your mother.”

      Indeed, it was. Towada frowned at the sound of her voice — why was she phoning him after all this time? — but didn’t say anything.

      “I visited your apartment yesterday,” she continued, “but you weren’t in.”

      “Oh, no. I was in,” he said in a matter-of-fact tone.

      The awkward silence that followed made Towada want to hang up and continue burning the image of that blue door into his eyeballs, but he didn’t. He couldn’t hang up on his mother. Even if she had paid men to electrocute him for twelve whole months.

      “We received a letter from a woman. Family name Sanada. It was addressed to you, but we opened it. Something to do with a man that you were having illicit relations with? Some sort of memorial for ‘Shunpei’?” Her tone was clearly unimpressed. Of course Towada knew that the letter hadn’t said ‘illicit relations’ — Sanada’s mother had been highly supportive of their relationship — but his mother had a habit of twisting things. “I thought we’d eliminated this phase, Yoshiki.”

      “It’s not a phase,” Towada strongly insisted. “It’s who I am.”

      She didn’t seem to be listening.

      “You were on track until you started working in that prison. Seeing all those depraved criminals around you was meant to make you hate men, not love them,” she spat, the disgust clear in her voice. “Where did I go wrong with you, Yoshiki?”

      “Being here made me realise that I’m okay the way I am. Carrying your disgusting ideology into this place did absolutely nothing for me,” Towada said, slamming a hand onto the desk with his free hand. “Spreading your homophobia, your hate, it did absolutely nothing for me. These men don’t give a damn what people think about their sexualities. They love who they love.”

      Kageyama was the strongest man in this prison. He was gay. Tsukishima, Kuroo, Takeru. All feared men that were also gay. If all these strong people were allowed to be gay and not face any repercussions, then Towada could surely follow in their shadows, couldn’t he? It surely says something if they’re so strong, not only in strength but in every other way possible. Strong enough to break the confines of society, open-minded enough to see sexuality as a broad spectrum rather than some sort of cage. They were all strong. And, right now, Towada was tired of being weak.

      “You’re going back to that clinic,” his mother began, “otherwise we’re taking your name out of the will. You won’t inherit the family home. You won’t inherit a dime. That car you drive is in your father’s name, too. We’ll take the car back.”

      “Wait, no. You can’t do that. I can’t work if I can’t drive here.”

      “You shouldn’t be working in such a place.”

      Towada was lost for words, but at last, he was finally able to get out a sentence. “Doesn’t it hurt you to be like this with your own son?”

      “A man who’ll have relations with another man is no son of mine,” she responded tersely. “You have one week to enrol yourself back into that clinic. We’ll pay for the treatment. If you don’t, say goodbye to your car.”

      “You sure you want that car, Mom? You might catch homosexuality,” Towada sarcastically responded. “Heavens forbid.”

      Towada had owned that car for twenty-six long years. It had seen many different prefectures, many different romantic interests and many different Towada phases. Gaudy shades. A full-on beard. Hell, he’d even gone for blue hair at one point. (His old friends had called him Smurfie for months after that.)

      There was a very audible sound of disgust from his mother. “You’ve really become shameless, Yoshiki.”

      “Yeah. Because I don’t have anything to be ashamed about. You’re the one who should be ashamed. You kicked me out after my last session at the clinic. Left me without a roof over my head. Shunpei saved my life,” Towada almost yelled. “He took me under his roof and looked after me the way you never did. He taught me that there’s nothing wrong with me. That I’m okay. You’re the one that’s wrong, Mom—”

      “No, no, no. I am not wrong—”

      “But you are. You knew I was depressed, you knew that I wanted to die because of it, but you didn’t care. You would’ve rather had me dead than gay.” Towada forced out a laugh. “Well, guess what. My sexual orientation’s made a compromise. I’m happily bisexual. I’ll even show you the pictures of my ex-girlfriend if it’ll appease your homophobia.”

      “You weren’t depressed. That was just the devil telling you what to feel—”

      “No, Mom. The only devil in my head was you,” Towada said, letting out a deep sigh. At this point, he wasn’t focusing on the door anymore. He was focusing on his feelings, focusing on these thoughts that had been plaguing his mind for years. “It was you.”

      “How dare you,” she hissed, sounding as if Towada had just slapped her. “I’m your mother.”

      “You disowned me,” Towada said. There were tears streaming down his cheeks, but it wasn’t because he was sad. It was because he was angry, damnit. Why were they having this conversation now? Why hadn’t they had this conversation when he was twenty? Thirty, even? Why now?

      “I did not disown you!”

      “I haven’t been invited to any family gatherings in almost thirty years. No-one was there when I graduated from university. You didn’t even visit me in hospital after your precious ‘shock therapy’ caused my heart to fail. It almost killed me.” He instinctively placed a hand to his heart, reminding himself of the location of his pacemaker. “I would never put myself through that again. Pay me a million yen, and I still wouldn’t do it. Pay me five million, and I still wouldn’t do it. You could give me all the money in the world, all the privileges and cars that I want, and I still wouldn’t do it. That clinic ruined me. And if you can’t understand why, then I don’t want you in my life.”

      “Yoshiki, you’ll understand when you’re older—”

      “You told me that when I was a teenager. I’m forty-four, and I can tell you. I’m bisexual. Always have been, always will be. It’s not a fluke. Even if I date a woman, have a family with her, have kids and grandkids and three pet dogs, I’m still bisexual. That doesn’t change. I’m valid, damnit!”

      For some moments, there was silence on both lines, save for Towada’s heavy breathing. This conversation really was beginning to suck the energy out of him.

      “I tried to save your soul,” she said at last, “but it looks like the devil’s corrupted you. And he won’t listen to reason. Yoshiki, you’re my son. But, I’m not going to support your lifestyle. Return the car to the family house at the end of this week.”

      “Yeah, I’ll return it. I hope you don’t mind if it’s on fire, though.”

      There was an unimpressed sigh on his mother’s side of the phone. “If there’s any ‘damage’, expect to hear from our lawyers. I can’t imagine you’re making much on a prison salary.”

      It was around that point that Towada noticed the brown eye through the slight opening in the door, the pink lips and mop of light brown hair that Towada instantly recognised as belonging to Aida. Of course, she stepped away from the opening once she realised that Towada had spotted her, but it didn’t matter. He was done with his conversation. His mother was bitter, misguided, and there wasn’t much that he could do to change her misconceptions. All he could do was try to live his best life.

      “I’ll see you at the end of this week, Mom. Bye.”

      He flicked the phone shut and placed it down on his desk, before turning his attention back to the blue door. It had been shut before, but it looked like Aida had come down at some point during his phone conversation. “Aida? You still there?”

      Moments later, the brunette poked her head in before walking into the office, closing the door behind her. She had a lunch bag with her and a friendly smile on her face. “Sorry. I was just wondering if you wanted to have lunch together…”

      “Sure,” Towada said, pulling out his own lunch from his drawer. He wasn’t too bothered about the fact that Aida may have heard his phone conversation. He was done hiding. No-one else in this prison did. C.Os, inmates… none of them did. Granted, the only gay C.O. that Towada actually knew about was Keishin (and he wasn’t even a C.O. anymore) but he still counted, right?

      “I was originally going to talk to you about the Hinata situation,” Aida began, “but if you want to talk about what just happened…”

      Towada shrugged his shoulders. “No, it’s cool. I’ve got it under control.”

      Aida tilted her head, giving Towada a concerned look. “You sure?”

      Towada nodded. “Yeah, yeah. It’s cool. What did you want to say about Hinata?”

      “Well, I had a call from an Aoba Johsai staff member. Apparently, Hinata was making quite the ruckus, trying to escape and fighting off staff members. Saying ‘they put me in here because I know the truth’ and all sorts of other things,” Aida said.

      “They didn’t take him seriously, right?”

      Aida laughed. “Of course not. As far as they’re concerned, he’s a nutcase.”

      Towada frowned. “I’m still not sure about this…”

      “Kageyama’s already a lot weaker than he was before. He’ll eventually confront one of us about getting Hinata back, we’ll tell him no, and he’ll start getting violent. When he gets violent, we take him to Shinzen. We also need to be harsher with their members and make sure to give them shots for the tiniest infractions. We get one of them in the SHU, we get Kageyama in Shinzen. If he gets in there, the rest of them follow. And then, the prison’s freed from Kageyama’s reign.” Aida’s grin stretched across her face, causing a shiver to go down Towada’s spine. “It’s perfect, don’t you think?”

      Towada cleared his throat awkwardly. “Y—Yeah. Perfect.”

      Sure, Kageyama’s reign was bad. Really bad. But what kind of reign was Aida going for?


	33. Don't Wake The King

Chapter Thirty-Three: Don’t Wake the King

      “How’d your search go?”

      Suga and Kuroo were stood nearby the garden once again, twenty-four hours after searching the whole prison for clues. They’d spent a lot of time trying to make links and questioned quite a few inmates, but they were still yet to find anything conclusive. It was afternoon, and they still had no definitive leads.

      “The Mukankei don’t want to say shit to us. They wouldn’t rat out their own,” Kuroo explained. “I asked Shibayama if he could talk to his Mukankei buddies and find things out, but to put it simply, the Mukankei don’t talk about that kind of stuff.”

      “Yeah. I asked Tsukishima as well, but the Mukankei are cut from a different kind of cloth. Even so, I think if we just try to find the right people, we can squeeze some information out of them,” Suga reasoned. “There’s a lot of Mukankei. There’ll be one willing to tell us something.”

      “Considering most of them hate us just as much as they hate the C.Os, I doubt that. For them, telling Karasuno information is even deadlier than telling the C.Os. They don’t play that game,” Kuroo reminded Suga. “No-one’s trying to end up like the Johzenji—”

      “Okay, okay. I get it. Mukankei’s a dead end,” Suga said, shaking his head. “Shiratorizawa? Find anything?”

      “Nothing. They have a grudge against Kageyama, but they’re not a violent group.”

      “So… you’re telling me we have no leads left?”

      Kuroo nodded. After a brief silence, Kuroo opened his mouth to say that maybe it was time to take a break from trying to find leads, but he promptly shut his mouth when he felt a presence behind him.

      “Um… excuse me?”

      Kuroo and Suga turned to face another man, who was wearing the same beige uniform as them. He had dark hair, a slight moustache and a heavy French accent. “You are trying to find out information about what happened to an inmate named Hinata, yes?”

      “Yeah. We are,” Kuroo responded. “You have anything?”

      The man nodded. “I was going to go to electrical, but then, I see him running out of the chapel. I remember because he bumped into me. He did not stop.”

      Suga shot an excited glance in Kuroo’s direction, overcome with joy that he’d finally discovered a lead. He didn’t want to drop this issue — he was convinced that there was something fishy about the situation — so now that he had someone who could potentially help him piece together the truth, he was ecstatic.

      “Do you know anything else? Where he ran to, maybe?”

      Before the man could even have a chance to respond, Suga kept on powering forth with the questions. “Anything distinct that he had on him? His facial expression?”

      The man shook his head. “I… no. I don’t know anything else.” After some moments of silence, he spoke once more. “Um… my name is Philippe Bernard. It would be nice if you could consider me for the new dorm…”

      “Yeah,” Kuroo said, nodding. “Sure. Thanks for the intel, bro!”

      The man scuttled away at last, leaving Suga and Kuroo to piece the last few parts together.

      “Shiratorizawa,” the both of them said in sync. It was no secret that Shiratorizawa spent much of their time in the chapel. Mornings in the chapel, afternoons in the rec room.

      “You want to pursue it?”

      “Yeah,” Suga said. “Let’s go.”

      Before Suga and Kuroo could move however, they saw that they were all being approached by the others. Tsukishima, Kenma, Yamaguchi, Kai; they were all walking — no, running — in their direction with a look of urgency on their faces. With Yamaguchi and Kai, it wasn’t anything out of the ordinary, but the fact that Tsukishima and Kenma were running struck both Suga and Kuroo as strange.

      “Suga,” Tsukishima practically yelled, “I got something. Shiratorizawa have links on the outside. They’re in for media-related crimes. Breaking and entering. Violation of privacy. Basically, they’re all like mini-mes. They can find whoever they want, whenever they want. As long as they’re on this planet, they’re findable.”

      Suga frowned. “What’s your point?”

      “We all know that Shiratorizawa don’t murder. It goes against their moral code. None of their members have the heart for it. Can’t fight, can’t kill. But, they can find people, find out their secrets and weaponise these secrets. I’m thinking they did this with the shrimp,” Tsukishima explained.

      “Wait, wait, wait,” Kuroo interrupted. “Slow down, Tsukki. We don’t know that for sure.”

      They were all standing in a massive cluster. It wouldn’t be long before they began to draw the attention of nosy C.Os — in fact, Kuroo could see one of the C.Os slowly beginning to walk towards their group. They’d need to wrap this up soon.

      “Shiratorizawa,” Tsukishima continued, grabbing everyone’s attention. “They have two motives: avenging Goshiki and keeping their dorm. They suspect that we killed Goshiki, and they’re not going to let that slide. Goshiki was their newest recruit, the one they all had high hopes for. So, they went for our newest recruit in return. Hinata. They were able to do this because they have method: their connections who can find anyone at any time. And, most of all, they have reputation: they’re known for following through. I’m not saying it was Shiratorizawa, but there’s definitely a possibility.”

      “Honestly, guys. You’re looking into it too much,” Kuroo insisted.

      Kuroo felt like he was in some sort of English lesson where the English teacher would try to convince the class that every single word in every single paragraph had some sort of abstract meaning that tied back to some sort of abstract theme.

      _No, Sensei, they’re just words._

_No, Sensei, I’m not backchatting you._

_Fine, I’ll get out of the classroom._

_No, I won’t come to the detention_.

      Kuroo shook his head to get his high school memories out of his head before realising that everyone had begun to head in the direction of the main building. Kuroo sighed and followed after them, knowing that he had little choice in this matter.

      However, before they could all make it to the rec room, they were accosted by a frustrated Kageyama who had noticed that everyone seemed to be up to something. Without him, no less.

      “What the hell’s going on?”

      Yamaguchi turned to face Kageyama. “We’re just asking Shiratorizawa what they had to do with Hinata—”

      “Nothing!” Kuroo yelled, waving both his hands energetically to draw Kageyama’s attention to him rather than Yamaguchi. “Absolutely nothing! We’re just going to have quality time in the rec room! You know… cards and shit… yeah!”

      Kageyama narrowed his eyes at Kuroo. “What did Shiratorizawa do?”

      “Nothing,” Suga insisted, moving towards Kageyama. “What are you doing up, anyway?”

      “I want a smoke. You’ve got my lighter. I want my lighter.”

      Suga began to pull the lighter out from his pocket, but Kageyama shook his head at the lighter. “No, I don’t need it anymore. I’m going to the rec room.”

      Before anyone could stop him, he had turned on his heel and stomped his way down the corridor.

      “Goddamnit, Yamaguchi,” Kuroo said, slapping a hand to his forehead. “Let’s go. There’ll be trouble if we don’t stop him.”

      They all began to hurry down the corridor, bursting into the rec room only to see that Kageyama was holding Kawanishi by the throat while interrogating him as to just what he’d done to Hinata. They’d all been about to pull Kageyama off Kawanishi, but much to their surprise, Kawanishi began to spill.

      “He wanted to buy drugs from us, alright? Hard drugs. We told him no, he got mad and kept on pushing it when a C.O. came in to check on us, so Yamagata slapped him to shut him up. I swear, I swear, he didn’t lay a hand on Hinata after that,” Kawanishi burbled, eyes bulging with fear. “Hinata ran out, okay? We didn’t sell shit to him. I’ll swear it on the Bible. The Qur’an. Whatever you believe in, okay?”

      “Why the hell would Hinata want drugs?”

      “He was crying about his sister or something, alright? Saying that he wanted something to stop the pain. I don’t know the specifics, man. Now please, let me go.”

      Kageyama tightened his grip on Kawanishi’s throat for a few minutes, but finally released him. Kawanishi fell onto the ground, where he was panting and spluttering against the hard, cold floor. The rest of Shiratorizawa were looking down at Kawanishi with disdain in their eyes, probably due to the fact that Kawanishi had just told their business to Kageyama Tobio of all people. Sure, budding journalists were paid to blab the truth. Just not to the likes of Kageyama Tobio.

      “If you’re lying to me, I’ll make sure you fucking regret it,” Kageyama snapped, knocking over the domino line that Kawanishi had made. He promptly stormed out of the rec room, Karasuno and Nekoma having made the decision to wait outside.

      “I’m not even going to ask why no-one informed me of this,” Kageyama said after an uncomfortably long silence, “but from what that Shiratorizawa mutt told me, I can tell you what happened. Hinata heard some bad news about his sister. Either Oikawa told him, or he phoned her and found out for himself. So, he went to the chapel and tried to get Shiratorizawa to sell him drugs. Maybe they did, maybe they didn’t. Then… he went to the bathroom. You don’t need me to spell it out for you.”

      “That… that sounds reasonable,” Suga said at last.

      “So, I’ll say this once and once only. Leave it alone. If you want to go and discover conspiracy theories, knock yourselves out. Gather proof about how George Bush did 9/11. Fine. Try and convince the prison that the illuminati is real. I couldn’t give two flying fucks. But don’t you fucking dare turn what happened to Hinata into a conspiracy theory. Don’t you dare.”

      Many of them were taken aback by the raw emotion in Kageyama’s voice. They’d seen anger from Kageyama quite often, but remorse was new. Not only remorse, but sorrow. Kageyama genuinely looked like his heart had just broken in two and he didn’t know what to do with it. Not to mention, his eyes were still a little puffy (most likely from crying) although no-one would dare point it out.

      “As of next week,” Kageyama continued, “you can all start calling your group meetings again. Until then, I don’t want to hear about any bullshit. I don’t want to hear about any fights. I don’t want to hear about any of you questioning people. Any complaints?”

      There were none.

      “Good. You all have work to do, don’t you? Get on with it.”

      Kageyama walked off once again, presumably headed back to his dorm. Everyone exchanged looks for a couple of moments, not quite having recovered from seeing a new side of Kageyama. They’d been working together for all these years, and not once had they seen Kageyama express this much emotion over someone who wasn’t Daichi or Suga. Hell, even Suga was taken aback by just how sharp Kageyama’s words had been. Sharp; poignant; piercing.

      “Trust Kageyama to figure it out in five minutes,” Tsukishima said at last.

      Gradually, everyone began to disperse back into their own little sub-groups and original rooms, leaving Suga and Kuroo on their own once again. Kuroo was satisfied with the conclusion, but Suga still wasn’t. There was one thing, just one more thing that Suga didn’t understand.

      “If that story’s true,” Suga said, “then something bad happened to Hinata’s sister. But if she’s okay, then… someone’s lying.”

      “No, no, Suga. You heard Kageyama. We shouldn’t be turning Hinata’s suicide attempt into a conspiracy theory. I thought it was ridiculous when you first said it and I think it’s ridiculous now. You need to leave the issue alone—”

      “Just… just hear me out. Please. If his sister’s been hurt, then I’ll leave it alone. I just need to find out what exactly happened,” Suga insisted. “I’ll leave it alone afterwards. I swear.”

      “Fine,” Kuroo said, exasperated. “Go to Towada. Or Oikawa, whoever works for you.”

      “I hate them both,” Suga muttered, pouting stubbornly. “Ugh. Oikawa’s a pompous ass and Towada’s a wannabe pompous ass. Well… I guess I’m going for the wannabe.”

      “But, Suga. Leave it alone after this. I mean it. You’re Kageyama’s right-hand man. If you piss him off, there’s no other man alive that can calm him down the way you do,” Kuroo reminded Suga as he began to walk over to the door which led outside. “And, I’ll let you know now. Kageyama’s fucking annoying when he’s pissed off.”

      On that note, Suga was left on his own. Suga, the only one who didn’t believe that there had been no foul play in Hinata’s near-death. Hinata had appeared completely fine when he left the dorm that morning. How could he go from smiling politely and bowing his head to hanging from a makeshift noose in less than an hour?

      “I’m not buying it,” he muttered to himself, heading over to Towada’s office. “Someone’s telling lies.”


	34. The Memorial

Chapter Thirty-Four: The Memorial

      The rest of the week remained fairly quiet, with Suga and Kageyama leaving the dorm for long periods of time. At Sunday, everyone was sat together at the Karasuno and Nekoma tables in the cafeteria. While the tables weren’t pushed back together, the members were all still together, chatting across tables and sharing jokes. For the first time in a while, there were no arguments between the two gangs. And slowly but surely, the news was spreading that Kuroo and Kageyama were brothers. The two hadn’t really spoken to each other since discovering the news, nor did they plan to speak to each other about it.

      Come Monday, Suga and Kageyama were nowhere to be seen at breakfast time. They’d left early in the morning, returned briefly to the dorm for count, but then they’d disappeared as quickly as they’d arrived. However, there was a voice over the intercom near the end of breakfast. It was Oikawa’s voice, and he had a message for everyone.

      **Yoo-hoo! As you all know, today is the 16 th August. At nine a.m., there will be a memorial for Sawamura Daichi, a former inmate of this prison. If you step outside, there will be a path directing you to the location of the memorial. I hope to see you all there!**

      The intercom clicked off.

      The cafeteria was quiet for a few moments as Karasuno and Nekoma exchanged looks, finally realising what Suga and Kageyama had been working so hard on for the past few weeks. Then, noise slowly began to fill the room up.

      “A memorial?” Ennoshita frowned. “How come they never mentioned it?”

      “Ennoshita, they mention it to you and you’ll have it all over the prison in the same time it takes Google to load up search results,” Kinoshita snapped back.

      “What- _ever_.”

      “I wonder what they planned,” Tsukishima mused out loud.

      “Well, Suga’s been getting me to grow specific flowers for him over the past few weeks,” Kuroo supplemented, gaze falling upon Tsukishima’s for a few moments. “He paid quite a bit too. Five packets of ramen, including flavour sachets. Three curry, two chicken.”

      “Ooh. Damn,” Ennoshita said, his stomach gurgling at the mere thought of ramen. “I could go for some curry ramen. Wanna trade?”

      “No way. You have nothing I want,” Kuroo responded, turning his attention away from Tsukishima and onto Ennoshita. Tsukishima tried his best not to feel disappointed, but there was still a little inkling of disappointment that was probing at his mind.

      “Name it. I’ll get it.”

      Kuroo smirked. “Fine. If you can get your hands on some coloured paper, I’ll give you curry ramen.”

      “Commissary. Easy.” Ennoshita fist-pumped the air. “The curry ramen’s sold out. There’s loads of paper though. I’ll get it to you by the end of today. How many pieces do you want?”

      “A hundred. They have to be different colours too, so don’t buy one hundred red sheets. Five colours at the least, alright? Preferably I’d like black, yellow, orange, red and paper with, like, hearts on it. Or maybe just white paper. Yeah, get white paper. Do that, and I’ll make the ramen for you personally. I’ll even add chopped vegetables as a bonus,” Kuroo suggested. “One hundred sheets, and you can get a restaurant-level dish. How’s that sound?”

      Ennoshita gave Kuroo a weird look. “A hundred? For one pack of ramen and your shitty vegetables—”

      “They’re not shitty!”

      “What the hell kind of ratio is that? Did you fail basic mathematics, Kuroo?”

      Kuroo rolled his eyes in response. He wasn’t going to dignify Ennoshita with a response, mainly because he knew that Ennoshita was right. Then again, he didn’t fail. He’d passed, mainly because he’d copied off someone else’s exam paper. Ennoshita didn’t need to know that though.

      “The ramen’s sold out, right? So, consequently — see, big word there — my ramen ends up being in demand,” Kuroo explained. “Scarcity and demand leads to _higher prices_. It’s economics, Ennoshita. Don’t you know how business works?”

      Tsukishima couldn’t help but laugh at Kuroo’s conversation with Ennoshita, although when Yamaguchi began to wiggle his eyebrows at Tsukishima, he quickly stopped his laughing. For some reason, Yamaguchi was convinced that Tsukishima was ‘reconciling’ with Kuroo. Whatever that meant.

      “Is that even how you use the word ‘consequently’? Tsukishima, help us out,” Ennoshita pleaded.

      “He used it right,” Tsukishima confirmed, hating himself for feeling excited when Kuroo turned his gaze onto him once more. The grin on Kuroo’s face was enough to cause Tsukishima’s heart to lurch in his chest. Tsukishima tried not to be affected, however, and instead tacked a sarcastic “Surprisingly” onto the end of his sentence.

      “Thanks, Tsukishima-sensei,” Kuroo teased, reaching out to tap Tsukishima’s glasses with one hand. His hand remained there though, hovering as he looked into Tsukishima’s eyes. “I’m your number one student, right?”

      Before Tsukishima could even begin to formulate a response (he wasn’t sure if he could due to the fact that his cognitive functions had fizzled out) Ennoshita yelled out one word in Kuroo’s direction.

      “Fifty.”

      Kuroo withdrew his hand as he wheeled around to face Ennoshita once again, responding with a loud “Two-hundred”.

      Tsukishima had never harboured any ill-will towards Ennoshita before, but right now, he kind of just wanted Ennoshita to fuck all the way off this table. Yamaguchi was quietly snickering to himself, so Tsukishima had a good idea of the expression he had on his face right now. It was probably a mixture between flustered and irritated, with a pinch of lovestruck.

      Ennoshita frowned. “They charge a hundred yen a piece. I’m not paying twenty thousand yen for fucking ramen.”

      “Fine,” Kuroo said, shooting a smirk over in Ennoshita’s direction. “I’ll just enjoy my lovely curry ramen at lunch while you eat some dried up rice and some meaty slop they call stew…”

      “Fuck you,” Ennoshita snapped. “I’ll do it.”

      “Boo-yah.”

      This time, both tables couldn’t help themselves from laughing at their antics.

      Tsukishima raised an eyebrow, determined to work his way back into the conversation. “Kuroo, what do you want to do with two hundred pieces of paper?”

      The man in question turned his attention to Tsukishima, who was leaning forwards in interest. “I wanna make stuff,” he explained. “I wanna make history. You know? Art and shit. I also… I want to make…”

      Ennoshita had a deadpan expression on his face. “You’re making me pay twenty thousand yen for you to make shit. Fuck you, Kuroo.”

      “Who’s even putting twenty thousand yen in your commissary? Bullshit.”

      Ennoshita grinned at Kuroo. “Oh, it’s part of some program…”

      Tsukishima was staring down at his bowl of food, lost in his thoughts. He was irritated that Ennoshita kept snatching Kuroo’s attention before he could get a chance to start a proper conversation with Kuroo. Irritated that he wouldn’t get to know how that sentence was going to end. He wasn’t even sure what he was thinking about, not really. Maybe he was thinking about how nice it felt to hear Kuroo laughing so earnestly. Maybe he was thinking about how they used to sit next to each other, used to flirt with each other. Maybe, he was wishing that things hadn’t played out the way they had.

      “Penny for your thoughts?” Kenma gently nudged Tsukishima.

      “Oh, no. I’m good,” Tsukishima said, picking up his chopsticks. Everyone had already finished their breakfast, but Tsukishima still had quite a bit left to eat. Kuroo glanced in Tsukishima’s direction for a moment, casting a disapproving look at the amount of food he had left in his bowl, but didn’t say anything.

      “Inmates, it’s time to depart! Clean your shit up, otherwise we’ll give you shots!” Towada was walking around with his C.Os, yelling just as obnoxiously as he usually did.

      Just as Oikawa had advised over the intercom, Karasuno and Nekoma walked out of the cafeteria together and outside, pleasantly surprised when they saw how things had changed. There was a carpeted path which appeared to be made from old futons. Where there was no carpet, the inmates were free to walk into the outside part of the prison like normal. This carpeted path led somewhere. There was a small, handmade sign. Two large sticks which poked out of the ground, and some large paper stuck to it. **To The Memorial Spot.** It wasn’t long before the Karasuno and Nekoma members realised that they were going towards Kageyama’s spot: the sheds.

      When they all reached the sheds, they were surprised to see that it had been transformed. The three sheds, which had previously been full of cobwebs and spiders, had now been cleared out and filled with flowers and messages. The shed doors were open, decorated with flower petals and some decorations made out of paper.

      Behind the sheds, where there had been a wall, there now hung a massive painting. It was of Daichi, drawn with soft black lines and coloured with warm, gentle pastel colours. Many inmates were admiring the painting, unable to believe that two people had done this much work by themselves.

      There were also some cushions nearby the sheds that had been set up in the light of the morning sky. That was where Kageyama and Suga were stood, waiting for everyone to arrive. Much to their surprise, almost every single member of the prison had come to this memorial. All types of dorms, and all types of people. Mukankei Ichi. Mukankei Ni. Shiratorizawa. Nekoma. Karasuno. They were all together. Hell, there were even staff members and old C.Os who had known Daichi who were stood there, looking genuinely interested in the concept of a memorial. The newer C.Os were there too, but with their hands resting on their batons. It was clear they’d only turned up to regulate order rather than to do any actual memorialising. It made sense though — they hadn’t known Daichi the way the older C.Os had.

      Of course, Oikawa had also bagged himself one of the cushion seats. There’d only been about thirty cushions set up, but maybe three, four hundred inmates had gathered around the area. And, they were all staring expectantly at Kageyama and Suga.

      The two looked out at the crowd, then at each other, joining hands at last.

      “We weren’t expecting this many people to come,” Suga said, gesturing to the crowd with his free hand. There were some chuckles from the crowd, but no-one interrupted him. “But, we’re glad that you all care. As you can see, we put quite a bit of work into setting this up. Tobio and I wanted to make something, not just for us, but for everyone in this prison. So…”

      “We thought that a memorial area would be the best way to do that,” Kageyama filled in.

      “Yeah,” Suga said, nodding. “For any unjust deaths which happen at the hands of C.Os, or at the hands of your peers, you can gather here to remember them. The first person that we’re going to remember here… is Daichi.”

      “Tobio, Daichi and I all grew up together. Knew each other since we were stupid little twerps. So, when it happened… you know, it hit me hard. It was as if I’d lost one half of myself and nothing I did could fill the void. I still can’t. It’s always there, that _void_. It’s strongest at night, when there’s no light to temporarily fill it up.”

      “There’s not a day that goes by where I don’t think of Daichi,” Kageyama said, gripping onto Suga’s hand even tighter. “There’s never been a day where I didn’t blame myself. And sometimes, it’s hard to remember to use my pain as strength.”

      Hearing Kageyama’s words, Kuroo suddenly felt a strong pang of guilt. He could hear Tsukishima in his head from their last argument, yelling.

      **_Daichi’s death was not Kageyama’s fault!_**

      “I have — I mean, had — an important person in my life. He asked me why I covered my emotions with bravado. I told him that my image mattered above everything else,” Kageyama began, feeling his palms becoming sweaty as he spoke. He didn’t exactly make a habit of opening up to people, especially about his personal life, but Kageyama had discovered a lot of new firsts ever since meeting Hinata. First love. First kiss. First… everything.

      “Right after that, I lost him,” Kageyama continued. “Because I didn’t want to change, I lost him. And while it doesn’t look like I’ll get him back in my life… it’s never too late for me to be the man he wanted me to be. I’m guessing that there are some of you in the crowd that don’t like me. And that’s what I thought I wanted. But, this man made me realise something. There’s strength in solidarity. And… I wish I’d realised that before it was too late.”

      Oikawa was the first one to start enthusiastically clapping, wiping away genuine tears from his eyes. At first, Oikawa was the only one, but slowly, more and more people began to follow suit until the entire area was bathed in applause, causing Kageyama to feel quite embarrassed. For such a bold guy, he really wasn’t used to receiving this much positive attention from people. He was used to people booing him. Hating him.

      He wasn’t used to being the person that people clapped and cried for.

      “Thank you, everyone.” Suga was already teary-eyed, bowing his head in thanks. “It’s such a beautiful thing, being able to bring everyone together like this. Daichi… he’d be happy to know that so many people cared.”

      Kageyama had one last surprise to unveil. A black banner, which had one single word emblazoned across it.

      **FLY**.

      He hung it up on the barbed wire fence, the black fabric rustling in the wind as he tied it up securely. He turned his attention back to the crowd once again, fiddling with his hands.

      “The banner was my idea,” he explained, his previous bravado having completely disappeared. Right now, he looked like your everyday average dork rather than the fearful mastermind Kageyama Tobio. “Fly. It’s a simple word, I guess. But, I wanted to capture the meaning behind it. No matter how hard something gets, we… we can grow. We can fly. And, our wings carry us to new possibilities.”

      “Anyone can come to this spot,” Suga followed up, having recovered from his brief shock at hearing Kageyama sound so sentimental. “Any hour, any day, any time. Anyone can leave messages in the sheds for anyone they miss. Flowers. Chocolates. Anything. There are no rules, except that you don’t defile the memorial spot.”

      The two men stepped down at last, accepting their applause as they make their way into the main crowd. Other people began to get up on the little stage made out of big rocks, telling their own little stories about Daichi and their memories of him. The crowd couldn’t help but shed a few tears, laugh a little at these memories, and Suga held Kageyama’s hand even tighter, confident in the knowledge that they’d been the ones to make this possible.

      They’d been the ones to start making a change.

***

      Come lunchtime, the Karasuno and Nekoma members were sat together in the cafeteria as usual. The memorial had gone extremely well — Oikawa had come to give his compliments afterwards, as had many other inmates. Even Aida had come down, surprised that the tyrannical Kageyama would do something so benevolent.

      Now, Ennoshita was walking into the cafeteria, carrying a stack of coloured paper in his arms. They were all various colours — orange, red, yellow — and there were even some luminescent ones in there. Kuroo’s eyes brightened at the sight of them. He reached for them once Ennoshita was near enough, only for Ennoshita to pull them out of Kuroo’s reach.

      “Ennoshita,” Kuroo whined.

      “I want ten packets of ramen. With flavour sachets. I also want two chocolate bars. On top of that, I want five cherry tomatoes from your garden. For that, I’ll give you one hundred sheets. Otherwise, I’ll just go and sell these pieces for seven-hundred yen each. Turns out, they’re now sold out of paper in commissary. After the memorial, there’s loads of people desperate for paper. People willing to give me a thousand yen for one piece of paper. I’ve got supply and demand. So, you heard me, Kuroo.”

      “Fuck you.”

      Ennoshita grinned at Kuroo’s obvious frustration. “Hmm? It’s just business, Kuroo. Economics, like you said. Right?”

      “You asshole. You were planning this, weren’t you?”

      “Of course not. It’s just coincidence.” Ennoshita smiled. “What do you say?”

      “That’s a fucking rip-off, asshole. What the fuck? One-hundred for that?”

      “Let’s say I sell one sheet for a thousand yen. Two hundred sheets yields 200,000 yen. Before, you wanted me to pay 20,000 for one packet of ramen. You’re the rip-off, Kuroo. If you’re going to be a scammer, at least be good at it. See, all you’ve got is looks,” Ennoshita said, snorting with laughter.

      “Oh, no. I’ve got a brain up here,” Kuroo said, tapping his forehead. “Believe it or not, I can see right through your plan. You’re just pretending you have demand so that I’ll accept your rip-off deal. You know how much money one packet of ramen is equivalent to? Five thousand yen. For chicken, it goes up to six thousand. The sachets on their own are worth an extra thousand. You’re asking for ten. That’s at least 500,000 yen worth, asshole. I’m not getting scammed.”

      “I’m not pretending I have demand! Unlike you, I don’t have to flex for customers.”

      “At least I can actually get customers,” Kuroo retorted.

      “Oh, yeah. You’re getting customers,” Ennoshita said, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively. “Paying you to tend to their bush, am I right? Or… wait, I got another one. They pay you to stroke their ‘weeds’. The flowers are just a bonus.”

      Kuroo rolled his eyes. “Oh, come on. Is that any way to speak to a prospective customer?”

      “Customer. You’re not that special, Kuroo.” Ennoshita placed his papers in a somewhat large pouch he’d been carrying in the crook of his arm and sat down with an angelic smile on his face. “You’re just a scammer.”

      Ever since Ennoshita’s return from the SHU, he had been building up quite the rapport with Kuroo. It seemed like Kuroo was finally starting to go back to his normal self, now that he had Ennoshita to barter with on a daily basis. He’d gotten quieter after breaking up with Tsukishima, although the only person who had actually noticed was Kenma.

      “Fine, fuck you,” Kuroo snapped. “I hope you get a paper cut. On your dick.”

      “Kuroo, we’re eating,” Kageyama complained.

      “Then eat. This is just negotiation, dearest brother—”

      “Don’t call me that.”

      Kuroo laughed. “Man, you’ve gone tsundere on me again.”

      The discussion at the table went on, the mood remaining jovial until Towada approached once again, his shot book tucked away for once.

      “Kageyama-san,” he began, grabbing the leader’s attention. “I need to speak to you, if you may.”

      The others (save for Tsukishima and Suga) looked at Towada weirdly, unable to understand why Towada was being so polite to Kageyama. Kuroo had to cover his mouth to hold in his laughter when the badly photoshopped Shiratorizawa newsletter cover popped into his head. Most people probably didn’t even remember the newsletter now — after all, the Johzenji incident had kind of overshadowed all of that drama — but that didn’t make it any less hilarious for Kuroo to remember. _Oh God_.

      “I’m eating,” Kageyama responded. “I don’t appreciate being interrupted, Towada.”

      Kuroo stared from Kageyama to Towada, wondering why the latter hadn’t started yelling about shots yet.

      “It’s important,” Towada insisted.

      Kageyama sighed and placed his chopsticks down, slowly rising to his feet. If Towada was actually approaching him rather than avoiding him like the wimp he was, it surely had to be important. But if it wasn’t, Kageyama would gladly punch him all the way into next week.

      Then again, it was Sunday, so Kageyama really wouldn’t have to punch that hard.

***

      At last, when they’d made it to Towada’s office and the door was shut, Kageyama glared at him expectantly as he opened his mouth to speak. “What’s the pressing issue here? Are you here to tell me you’ve made plans for Aida’s death?”

      “No,” Towada muttered.

      “Let me guess, you want money?”

      “No. I don’t.” Towada gulped, closing his eyes for a few moments before speaking at last. “I’m here to tell you that I’m not the same man I was back in university, and I made a mistake turning Shunpei in to the police. I loved him. That’s why I’m here to tell you that I’m not going to deny my second chance at love. I’m not a murderer.”

      Towada took the thousand yen notes out of his pocket and shoved them into Kageyama’s hands.

      “Take your filthy money,” Towada urged. “Take it. You can kill me if you want. I don’t care anymore. Just take your money and serve your time. I can’t take any lives. I can’t. My conscience can’t handle that.”

      “You’ve already taken lives,” Kageyama calmly stated. “Remember whose phone it was in that dorm. You know… it wouldn’t be too nice if someone leaked that information to Shiratorizawa now, would it?”

      “Leak it. I don’t care. No matter what I do and what I say, I’ll just be another shitty C.O. to these inmates and that’s the truth,” Towada said, coughing into his palm a couple of times before looking up once again. “I’m not a role model. I didn’t come here to be liked. I came here to do a job. So, do what you want. Threaten me. Do it right now, Kageyama. Threaten me.”

      Towada squeezed his eyes shut after the statement, mentally bracing himself for whatever pain Kageyama was about to make him experience. Judging by his past encounters with Kageyama, this wasn’t going to be pretty. It didn’t help that he could hear Kageyama shuffling closer. He was frozen to the spot with fear. He couldn’t think; he couldn’t move. But, even with all this fear he was feeling, his pride wouldn’t allow him to be misled by Kageyama any longer.

      “Hold out your hand,” Kageyama demanded. Towada did as asked straightaway, only further proving that he was still terrified of Kageyama and his strength. He was shocked, however, when he felt the crisp yen notes floating onto his palm. He opened his eyes, seeing that Kageyama was still eerily calm rather than freakishly angry.

      “H…Huh?”

      “You need that money more than I do,” Kageyama stated, almost in a business-like tone. “We’ll call it compensation for your ‘troubles’.”

      “Why… why aren’t you threatening me?”

      Kageyama let out a deep sigh. “What’s the point?”

      Taking out his anger on Towada might have made Kageyama feel better for a few minutes, but it would ultimately prove Hinata’s point: Kageyama was just like Takeru. A bully. Kageyama wasn’t sure just who he wanted to be anymore, but he knew one thing. Mindless torture was no longer on the menu, not for Towada and not for any of the other inmates who crossed his path. Fear and respect were two sides of the same coin, and in Kageyama’s case, he was flipping a heavily-biased coin.

      “I’m your enemy,” Towada pushed. “You hate me. You have reason.”

      “That’s true. I have four reasons to kick your ass right now,” Kageyama began. “First of all, you dropped my honorific. Second, you had the nerve to break this arrangement off without my say-so. Third, you tried to challenge me. Four—”

      “Okay, okay. I get it. Just… get on with it.”

      “My fourth point was going to be that you cut me off too much,” Kageyama dryly commented, narrowing his eyes at Towada. Towada felt a shiver go down his spine, but he didn’t say anything. “Thing is, no matter how many times I kick your ass, it’s not like you’re going to change. You’re tenacious, as much of a dick as you are. So, I’ll give you this victory.”

      Towada was pleasantly surprised by Kageyama’s words. He’d upgraded from ‘dog’ to ‘dick’ (then again, could he really consider that an upgrade?) and for once, Towada was beginning to realise just how much the Hinata incident had made him change. There was the memorial where he bared his feelings to the inmates, and now this.

      “Is this your way of becoming a new man?”

      Kageyama snorted. “Hardly. You can’t coat a piece of shit in gold and call it ‘new’. It’s still shit. It’s just worth a hell of a lot more than the other pieces of shit out there.”

      “So… you’re not going to do anything to me?”

      “I didn’t say that,” Kageyama said, eyebrow raised. “You’re working to get me out of this place. That’s your job. Obviously, I’ll have to stop you from doing that. But, you don’t have to piss yourself every time you see me—”

      “I don’t! Wait, shit. I interrupted you again. Uh… shit…”

      Kageyama rolled his eyes, but for once, he didn’t find himself irritated by Towada. The true irritation in the prison was Aida Riko, and it was only with the easily-manipulated Towada Yoshiki that she could stand on even footing with Kageyama.

      “Um… Kageyama,” Towada began, quickly tacking on a _–san_ when Kageyama raised an eyebrow at him, “let’s say I have some information that would benefit you. Would I get your word about no-one discovering that it was my phone in the bombing?”

      “I thought you said you didn’t care about anyone finding out,” Kageyama pointed out with a snicker. “Besides, aren’t you helping the wrong side? You just said you wanted to end this arrangement. Or, what, I say something that isn’t threatening and you think I’m nice?”

      “Um…”

      “Don’t get it twisted. We’re not friends. You’re not safe from me. I’m just not going to kill you.”

      Kageyama walked over to Towada’s desk and sat on top of it, not taking his eyes off Towada.

      “When I told you that Aida needed to go,” Kageyama continued, “it wasn’t just for my own good. I sense something from her. It’s not good.”

      “Maybe you think that because she’s trying to get rid of you,” Towada reasoned.

      Kageyama snorted. “No, it’s more than that. But, I’m not here to preach to you. I’m just going to tell you. She won’t die. You won’t die. At least, not by my hands.”

      “That really doesn’t make me feel any safer.”

      “Well, I’ll tell you now, the world doesn’t end just because you decide that you don’t want to work with me anymore,” Kageyama snidely commented. “You’re really not that special to me.”

      Alright — so maybe Kageyama still couldn’t resist the urge to insult Towada, but at least he’d managed to last longer than three minutes without punching him, kicking him, or holding a knife to his throat. That could be considered an improvement, right?

      “You inspired me,” Towada said at last. “Not just you. But… well… that came out wrong. But, uh… you confronted me about my past. About Shunpei. All of it. I locked the memories away, and all of a sudden I was just… thinking about it. And—”

      “Are you really trying to have a heart-to-heart with a murderer?”

      “Well, not a heart-to-heart, but… looking at you, I’ve realised something. You put on this tough exterior, but on the inside, you’re a little boy who wants nothing more than for someone to break through and see what you’re really feeling—”

      “Okay, I made the wrong choice not beating your ass,” Kageyama snapped, hopping off the desk and moving towards Towada before he could finish speaking. “Little boy. I’ll show you who’s a little boy—”

      “See? You’re hiding it with violence,” Towada said, having tapped into his newfound confidence. “If you hit me right now, you’re just proving my point.”

      Kageyama didn’t hesitate to hit Towada. The impact of the hit caused Towada to stagger back, holding his chin as he stared over at Kageyama in disbelief. He really hadn’t been expecting Kageyama to swing so readily — then again, this was the same man who had once held a knife to his throat.

      “Don’t test me,” Kageyama brusquely informed him. “It won’t end well for you.”

      Towada was quick to nod. Perhaps Kageyama had eased off in terms of violence, but he was no less dangerous than he had been on the outside.

      “Sorry,” Towada muttered in response.

      “Speak up, why don’t you? You were being so confident just a minute ago,” Kageyama reminded him, snickering to himself as he took a step back. “Come on. I could’ve easily punched you harder if I’d wanted to.”

      “Fine,” Towada said, letting out a deep sigh as he made eye contact with Kageyama once again. “There’s… there’s something you need to know.”

      “Spill,” Kageyama ordered. “I mean, if you’re stupid enough to help the enemy…”

      “That’s the thing. I… I don’t know who the enemy is anymore,” Towada admitted, his hand still rubbing his sore jaw as he continued to regard Kageyama. “So, I just want to tell you one thing.

      “Go on, then.”

      “You… you should be prepared.”

      Kageyama frowned. “Prepared for what?”

      “Trouble,” Towada elaborated, “because there’s going to be a lot of it.”

      A silence stretched out between the two of them, but at last, Kageyama nodded his head in acknowledgement. There really wasn’t much he could garner from that singular warning, but it was a valuable warning nevertheless.

      “So, Aida’s gearing up for war,” Kageyama idly commented, beginning to drift over to the door. “Isn’t she?”

      “Yeah,” Towada responded. “Something like that.”

      There was yet another hum of acknowledgement from Kageyama before he left the room at last, shutting the door behind him at last. Towada stared after him as he left, feeling somewhat glad that he’d managed to get through an entire conversation with Kageyama without ending up with a myriad of injuries. Today was an achievement in that aspect.

      But, just how many more achievements were there left to attain?


	35. To Slock or Not to Slock

Chapter Thirty-Five: To Slock or Not to Slock

      “A slock? Are you planning to beat someone up now?”

      Suga had frowned upon hearing the request. He’d been taking a break after a long morning shift down in electrical, only for Kageyama to approach him with the strange request about a slock. Suga had been eating a chocolate donut prior to Kageyama’s arrival, although he’d paused mid-munch so that he could talk to Kageyama without spluttering cheap, doughy fragments all over his face.

      Kageyama shook his head. “No. It’s Yaku’s birthday today,” he explained. “I don’t really have anything lying about, though. You think he’d want a slock?”

      “I think he’d appreciate a knife more,” Suga responded, licking some of the chocolate frosting off his lips. “How come you’re getting him a present anyway? You’re not really a celebration person.”

      “Well, it’s not about celebration. It’s just… well, I want to amend things with Nekoma. This alliance is everything, so… you know. Don’t want to mess it up.” Kageyama looked down at his watch before looking up at Suga once more. “The others should be in the rec room right now. You coming?”

      Suga shook his head. “Nah. I’ll come by to say happy birthday later.”

      “Alright. See you,” Kageyama said, turning in the direction of the main building.

      “Wait,” Suga began to say, scarfing down the last of his donut before continuing to speak. “There’s something I need to speak to you about.”

      “Sorry, but could you tell me later? It’s Yaku’s birthday today, so I’m going over to the rec room to give him my regards,” Kageyama informed him, having looked down at the watch on his hand. “I said I’d be there for two-twenty, but it’s almost half past.”

      “Yeah,” Suga said after a brief pause. “Go ahead.”

      “Thanks. See you later, Suga.”

      Kageyama started a light jog towards the main building. Before, a jog like that would’ve tired him out, but after his constant exercising over these past few months, his stamina had increased quite a bit. Suga’s stamina was looking pretty good too, but nowhere near as impressive as Kageyama’s.

      Suga made his way towards the main building after some thought, one hand in his pocket. He could feel the small piece of paper in there, the paper that would give him the answer to the question that had been spinning around in his head for all this time. He walked down the corridor and to the phone area, only to see that all three phones were being used. There was Kai, who seemed to be speaking to a friend. Then, there was Semi and Shirabu who were sharing one phone between themselves. Semi was unabashedly feeling up Shirabu despite the pleas of the latter. On the last phone was a Mukankei member, Philippe. It was the same guy who had given Suga and Kuroo some information on Hinata’s whereabouts.

      “Damnit,” Suga muttered to himself. He had no choice — he’d have to go and use someone’s office to make the phone call. He recalled seeing Towada doing some walks around the perimeter earlier, so that most likely meant that Towada’s office was vacant.

      Keeping that in mind, Suga began to head towards Towada’s office, keeping an eye on his surroundings as he did so. He could see the Karasuno and Nekoma members living it up in the rec room. From what Suga could see, someone had lured Kageyama into staying in there a bit longer with some free milk. Probably Yamaguchi.

      The hallway to Towada’s office was quiet, probably due to the fact that inmates weren’t allowed in this specific area. There was the staff room to the left, while Towada’s office was situated at the very end of the hallway. Suga strolled down at a leisurely pace, pretending that there was no camera pointed in his direction. Chances were, the camera was a dud. Suga didn’t know anything about electronics though, so he couldn’t be sure. He could only hope that his status as a Karasuno member would keep him from getting apprehended by any of the C.Os.

      With a heavy sigh, he let himself into Towada’s office. He didn’t waste time looking around — he’d already searched Towada’s room at an earlier point this week. The search had initially uncovered nothing but empty Pocky boxes and coffee mugs, but when Suga had placed a hand on Towada’s desk to steady himself, he’d ended up shifting a pile of sheets to the ground by accident.

      That accident had ended up giving him the information he’d been looking for. That information had come in the form of a singular sheet, one which bore the picture of a young girl who was the splitting image of Hinata. Apart from the picture, there had also been some notes detailing a ‘car accident’, ‘hospitalisation’ and lastly, the Hinata family number.

      It was that very same number which Suga was holding in his hand right now, scribbled on a tiny slip of paper he’d brought with him. Suga had been unable to pursue the issue straightaway due to the influx of birthday celebrations and Daichi’s memorial, but now… it was time for him to find out the truth.

      With his heart weighing heavy in his chest, he picked up the receiver and dialled the number, touch by touch. The receiver was held close to his ear, the plastic cold against his skin. Every second of this trilling in his ear only made him more and more nervous, and he couldn’t help but want to hang up and leave the issue alone. But, he wouldn’t be able to forgive himself if he backed out of this now.

      He had to pursue the truth. Not just for Hinata’s sake, but for the sake of the prison.

      “Hello?”

      “Hello,” Suga said, voice cheery in response to the older, feminine voice on the line. “Is this the Hinata residence?”

      “Yes, it is.”

      “I apologise if this comes across as being insensitive, but… was your daughter recently injured in any sort of accident?”

      Suga placed a hand down on the desk, mentally preparing himself for what was to come next. If Hinata’s mother said yes, then that meant he was an insensitive bastard and needed to forget about this ‘conspiracy theory’, as Kageyama had dubbed it. But… if she said no, then everything would change. Everything.

      “Are you trying to sell me insurance or something? Because I don’t want it—”

      “No, no! I’m not insurance,” Suga said, a nervous chuckle leaving his lips. He internally chastised himself for his nerves — for God’s sake, his nervousness was as clear as day — but took a deep breath to calm himself down before continuing. “I’m just a family friend. And… I wanted to offer my condolences.”

      There was another silence which passed before the woman spoke. “Well, I think you’ve got the wrong number. My daughter hasn’t been in any sort of accident.”

      Suga had felt his body becoming tense at the woman’s words, the last sentence leaving him still, rigid and in shock. He felt as if he’d been paralysed by that last sentence alone, paralysed to the point that he couldn’t even reach up to brush his hair away from his eye or push the receiver a little bit closer to his ear. He felt as if he’d been paralysed, and yet, he was still capable of speech. Just about.

      “Are—are you positive, ma’am?”

      “She’s my daughter,” was the woman’s dry response. “I’m sure I’d know if she’d been in some sort of ‘accident’.”

      “Ah… right. Yeah. Stupid question,” Suga replied, his voice shaky with nerves. The nerves themselves had become tangled up within him, and now Suga couldn’t keep his thoughts straight. All he knew was that he had to ascertain the truth — right here, and right now.

      “So, no car crashes,” Suga continued once he’d managed to calm himself down. “No hospitalisation. No… deaths?”

      There was a heavy sigh of exasperation. “Who is this? Seriously, if you’re selling insurance, I don’t want it.”

      “No-one,” Suga said after a pause, shaking his head to himself. “Just… just a concerned family friend. I’ll be going now. Thanks for your time, ma’am.”

      Suga put the receiver down before Hinata’s mother could continue to quiz him about his identity.

      He’d been freed from his momentary paralysis, but he hadn’t yet been freed from the shock which had tangled his nerves up. No — if anything, this had only tangled his nerves up even more. This conversation had brought him to the bitter realisation that he’d been… right. Suga hadn’t wanted to be right — god, no. He would’ve much rather been wrong than right about this specific topic. But, his suspicions had been revived by that one phone call. They’d been revived, and now, there was a foundation of truth to support his suspicions. A foundation of evidence.

      Hinata hadn’t wanted to commit suicide. But he’d been manipulated into believing it was the only option left. Hinata had already been blaming himself for the Johzenji’s death. His sister had just been the icing on the cake.

      This wasn’t some petty revenge from some guy in some other dorm. This was an order that had come from the top, and Suga already knew why. It was all part of their plan to bring Kageyama down. And while Suga had been looking forward to the fight, he hadn’t thought that the prison would sink this low just to take Kageyama down. They’d sunk so low that Suga knew that no-one would believe him. Kageyama was convinced that he was to blame for Hinata’s suicide attempt, and the others wanted nothing to do with this ‘conspiracy theory’.

      Suga buried his head in his hands, letting out a deep sigh as he realised he’d run into yet another dead end, even with all of this new information.

***

      Come Tuesday afternoon, Kageyama found himself stood in Towada’s office with an extension cord. He’d stripped the wires from their coverings — thankfully without incident — and now he was hooking the wires up to the doorknob. He’d seen Towada go into Aida’s office earlier, so Kageyama knew that it would be a long while before anyone came to interrupt him.

      Once he finished hooking the wires up to the doorknob, making sure the positive wire didn’t touch the negative, he let out a deep sigh as he realised one simple thing: this wouldn’t actually kill anyone. It had sounded good in his head — killing someone through the use of a doorknob — but in reality, it probably wouldn’t turn out that way. However, even though it wouldn’t work as a murder weapon, it still worked perfectly for Kageyama’s main motive: escape. If he were to take over a room and attach this little device of his to a doorknob, it would shock anyone who tried to open it. If he did the same to the electronics room so that no-one could shut off the mains, it would give him ample time to escape the prison.

      He’d spent quite a bit of time balancing his options. He knew that Hinata was in Aoba Johsai and that there was no chance of him coming back. Not to mention, Towada had warned Kageyama that he needed to be ‘prepared’.

      Kageyama couldn’t get into that mindset. Not until he managed to get Hinata back.

      Kageyama walked around and tapped the walls, trying to get an indication for how thick they were. They seemed to be less sturdy than the Johzenji walls, so it wouldn’t be too hard to blast through these walls. But, being in the same room as a Tsukishima-manufactured bomb would mean death, and Kageyama wasn’t quite ready to die yet.

      With yet another heavy sigh, he walked over to a metal cabinet which was situated in the corner. Next to the cabinet were some cardboard boxes, all filled with files and papers. On the right side of the room was the desk, a computer chair and a large painting behind the desk. Well, it wasn’t really a painting. It was just a pattern of red and purple sploshes. There wasn’t much in the room that Kageyama could use to his advantage. But, he needed a primary place to construct a breakout from. He knew what he needed, but his brain just wasn’t cooperating with him.

      “Shit,” Kageyama hissed, raking his hands through his hair. He’d been way too hasty with his planning. Besides, it would take more than an extension wire and a bomb to break out of this place. Could he even afford to use a bomb again? There was still a lot of attention surrounding Fukurodani about the last bombing. Even if he was Kageyama Tobio, he couldn’t expect to use the same technique twice.

      He needed something new.

      “Okay, okay,” he muttered, running over to the plug and switching it off. “Maybe I can find something useful on the internet.”

      Kageyama walked over to the computer chair and sat down, loading up the computer. He couldn’t leave this room, not now. He’d already disabled the camera in this corridor. It hadn’t been too difficult. He’d just stopped a random guy from the Mukankei and offered to give him a thousand-yen note if he broke the overhead camera. Kageyama would have to go and take him out at some later point (he couldn’t leave any witnesses alive, after all) but right now, the pressing matter was Towada.

      At last, the log-in screen popped up, showing Towada’s full name and an empty space for Kageyama to input a password. He’d been hoping that Towada would’ve been stupid enough to not use a password, but of course, he’d been wrong.

      At first, Kageyama tried 1234. That didn’t work. So, he tried 4321. Again, that didn’t work. He tried Sanada. And finally…

      It didn’t work.

      “For fuck’s sake, what’s his password?”

      At this point, Kageyama was just typing in random things. The names of all the C.Os; the names of all the members in Karasuno and Nekoma; the names of Towada’s past flings (yes, Kageyama had his sources). But, the password that finally worked was “password”. Kageyama couldn’t help but wish he’d tried “password” first rather than wasting fifty tries on all sorts of name and number combinations, but he couldn’t be mad. After all, he’d cracked the code without needing to enlist Tsukishima’s assistance.

      Once it loaded up, Kageyama was greeted with the sight of a younger Towada with big gaudy Hollywood shades on. He was grinning and putting both fingers up in a peace sign. He couldn’t help but let out a snort of laughter as he clicked onto Google Chrome and checked out Towada’s history. When the history actually loaded, however, Kageyama’s laughter was quickly cut short.

      **Big busty blondes**

      **Hentai haven**

      **Best free gay porn**

      **Can I get paid for jerking off?**

      **xxxvideos.com**

      Kageyama frowned and looked over at the bottle of lotion on Towada’s desk, then at the desk itself. It didn’t take him long to work out what Towada liked to do in his spare time.

      “Ew.”

      Although it made Kageyama feel sick to know that he was sitting in the same place where Towada did his ‘extra-curricular activity’, he gritted his teeth and clicked off Towada’s history. He’d bleach his clothes later, but for now, he needed to find a good escape plan. The Internet was a vast place, after all. He began to think that maybe there were step-by-step guides on how to escape prison, although he quickly dismissed the thought. If there were such a thing, Ennoshita would’ve been yelling it all over the prison.

      Letting out a sigh, Kageyama went on a fascinating little site called YouTube and was about to type in ‘how to break out of prison without killing anyone’, but in the recommended videos, he saw a video of three cats playing together.

      “How cute,” Kageyama murmured, allowing himself a smile as he clicked onto the video and watched it, cooing and awing every now and again. It was only four minutes long. He could make his original inquiry after he finished this. But, in the comments, there were people recommending videos with even cuter cats. So, Kageyama began to watch those too. Before he knew it, he was watching ‘2009 Annual Cat Race’, a video which lasted for thirty beautiful minutes. He was watching the screen with a smile on his face, rooting for the cute little munchkin cat with ginger fur — well, at least until a female voice came from a computer speaker.

      **You have an email**.

      “Who said that?”

      Kageyama got up and grabbed the mouse as defence, looking around himself defensively. “Reveal yourself, woman.”

      Of course, no-one revealed themselves. Once Kageyama looked back at the screen, he could see there was a little pop-up, saying the same thing that Kageyama had just heard. He looked at the screen, genuinely troubled by the fact that people were programming electronics to speak. Next thing he knew, they’d be programming these electronics to kill.

      He shuddered and got up from the desk, having decided that he didn’t want to spend another second of his time on the internet. He’d forgotten what he wanted to search up in the first place, truth be told. He’d just wasted half an hour doing absolutely nothing. And his situation wasn’t any better. For some moments, he considered just taking his stuff with him and leaving. This was stupid. He didn’t want anyone to find out about his plan to escape the prison, after all. Not even Suga. At least, until he came up with something definite…

      Finally, he switched the electrical outlet off and began to detach the wires from the doorknob, only for the doorknob to begin rattling. Kageyama jumped back in fright, realising that getting caught could spell out big trouble for him. If it was Towada, Kageyama could easily bluff his way out of the situation, but if it was someone else…

      The door swung open, and mere seconds later, a dark-haired male emerged from behind the door with a stern expression on his face. Kageyama had been about to try and hide the evidence of what he’d been doing, but now, all he could do was freeze in his tracks and wait.

      “I know what you’re doing,” Kuroo briskly informed him. “So, stop. Take the extension cord out.”

      “What?”

      Kuroo didn’t bother to respond. He simply walked over to the mains and turned them off, pulling the plugs out of the extension cord despite Kageyama’s protests. Kageyama even attempted to pull Kuroo off the cord at one point, but he didn’t budge. Kuroo was strong and muscular due to his heavy lifting on the garden. While Kageyama had become much stronger than his past self, he still wouldn’t be able to beat Kuroo in a battle of strength. Hell, Kuroo could probably beat him with one pinkie.

      “Kuroo, what the fuck are you doing here?”

      “Stopping you from fucking up.”

      He stood up and grabbed a reluctant Kageyama by the arm, tugging him out of the room.

      “Come on, bro,” Kuroo announced. “We’re fucking off.”

      Kageyama was practically shoved out of Towada’s office by Kuroo, much to his chagrin. He’d been about to finalise his plans as to how he could use Towada’s office to aid his escape plan, but before that could happen, Kuroo had stormed in like a bonehead and dragged him off.

      “Let me go, damnit! Kuroo, you’ll regret this—”

      “Yeah, alright. Let me regret it. I don’t give two shits.”

      Kuroo continued to drag Kageyama all the way back to the Karasuno dorm, carrying the defiled extension cord on his person. It was hidden underneath the baggy shirt he was wearing.

      By the time they’d made it back to the empty Karasuno dorm, Kageyama was depleted of almost all of his strength. He’d fought against Kuroo at every twist and turn, but Kuroo had kept him in place with almost no effort whatsoever.

      “Kids,” Kuroo said, tutting as he pulled the extension cord out and tossed it in Kageyama’s direction. “They don’t know how to listen.”

      “You’re one minute older than me,” Kageyama snapped. “Shut up.”

      “Ah, yes. The brother debacle. Let’s discuss that,” Kuroo said, putting on a posh voice as he leaned into Tsukishima’s square and nabbed a bar of chocolate from his bed, thinking that Tsukishima wouldn’t miss one little bar. He began to chomp it down, all the while staring straight at Kageyama.

      “How did you know what I was planning to do?”

      Kuroo tapped his nose. “Intuition, dearest brother.”

      “Don’t call me that.”

      Kuroo simply bit down on his chocolate once more, thinking back to the conversation he’d had with Tsukishima five minutes prior to this moment.

***

      “Kuroo.”

      There was a familiar, blonde figure which was moving in the direction of the garden. Seeing him, Kuroo placed his watering can to one side and moved over to greet him. Kuroo was slightly taken aback when Tsukishima wrapped his arms around him without warning, although he wasn’t exactly displeased by Tsukishima hugging him. Tsukishima’s breathing was slightly laboured — probably from the fact that he’d been speed-walking the entire way here — and his cheeks were flushed. Kuroo couldn’t help but think he looked adorable like that.

      “What’s up?”

      “I made a mistake.” There was a silence that passed before Tsukishima began to elaborate. “Kuroo. I… I…”

      “Let me guess, you want to get back together?”

      “No,” Tsukishima muttered, a blush marring his cheeks. Kuroo couldn’t help but smile at Tsukishima’s clear denial. “It’s about Kageyama, asshole.”

      Kuroo frowned at the mention of Kageyama. “When we say ‘mistake’ and ‘Kageyama’, is it something that’s going to trigger another argument between us?”

      Tsukishima heaved out a sigh. “It depends.”

      “What do you mean, it depends?” Kuroo wriggled himself out of Tsukishima’s arms, taking a step back to survey Tsukishima’s facial expression. “Don’t tell me he’s trying to kill someone. No, no. Even worse. Don’t tell me you helped him. Not when you know what’s at stake.”

      Kuroo didn’t have to say what was at stake. They both knew. If Kageyama killed one more person, Karasuno’s alliance with Nekoma would come to a complete end. By extension, any chance of Tsukishima and Kuroo reconciling would be destroyed. Not to mention, any friendship that could’ve been possible between Kageyama and Kuroo would come to an end as well. There was a lot at stake.

      “I want to lie to you and say no,” Tsukishima began, “but lying gets us nowhere. So, I’m going to tell the truth. You can’t get angry at me, and you can’t act childish. Do you understand?”

      Kuroo could guess what he was going to hear, but he still nodded and leaned against the fence, waiting patiently for Tsukishima’s words. In the back of his mind, Kuroo couldn’t help but think that this meant that even Tsukishima was starting to disagree with Kageyama’s actions, the same Tsukishima who had been fiercely loyal to Karasuno for years.

      “Yesterday, he asked me about the easiest way to send electrical charge into an item. I didn’t want to tell him, but he ended up persuading me in the end,” Tsukishima explained. “Before he left, I told him that he couldn’t use it to kill anyone and that he had to turn off the voltage.”

      Kuroo had to bite his tongue to prevent himself from saying anything even remotely snappy.

      “I was worried,” Tsukishima continued, “so I went to go talk to Suga about it. Turns out, he asked Suga for an extension cord, like I recommended. He wouldn’t tell me who his target was but—”

      “Tsukki, you really are slow.” Kuroo heaved out a deep sigh before continuing. “It’s Towada. Remember when Towada came up to Kageyama during lunch and Kageyama came back looking really broody and shit? I’m guessing that he was thinking about how he could kill Towada. Jeez, what is with that guy and wanting to kill everyone?”

      “Wait,” Tsukishima said, holding up a hand to shut Kuroo up. “Wait, wait, wait. If Towada’s his target, and Kageyama’s already disappeared…”

      “Towada,” Kuroo concluded, “is already dead.”

      Tsukishima had a pained expression in his eyes, which struck Kuroo as quite unusual. Tsukishima had always been the type to insist that killing was necessary and a part of life. So… why was it that he seemed to disagree with it this time around?

      “Kuroo, I need to ask you a serious question.”

      “Go ahead,” Kuroo shot back in response.

      “So… you remember how Kageyama was on the outside. And how he became pretty humble once he ended up behind bars. Stayed out of the way, only really yelled at people who provoked him…”

      “Yeah, yeah. What’s your point?”

      “Do you think he’s making the same mistake he made on the outside?”

      Kuroo sighed, fighting the urge to roll his eyes at Tsukishima. “I’ve literally been telling you this.”

      Tsukishima frowned. “You don’t have to be so condescending about it.”

      “It’s not condescending,” Kuroo insisted. “It’s fact. But everyone decided to brush it off as me being childish, and now look where we are. Blood on our hands and longer jail sentences on the way. Kageyama is a man who craves power. You give him a chance to get that power, and he will take it. If he fails, he’ll wait until he can do it again. He didn’t need to start doing all this shit until Towada came around. When Towada came, it put his position in danger.”

      “Actually, that’s true…”

      Now that Tsukishima was thinking about it, ever since the arrival of Towada, Kageyama had been going to extreme lengths to ensure his position at the top of the prison.

      “When I said that I wanted to take Kageyama down, I wasn’t saying it to be malicious. I was saying it because he needs to fall before he realises just what he’s doing. He won’t listen to logic anymore,” Kuroo concluded. “So, it doesn’t matter. We’ll end up in Shinzen right beside him at this rate.”

      There was a frustrated expression on Kuroo’s face as he thought back to all the times he’d told Kageyama to cool it down, back to all the times everyone had laughed about his rivalry with Kageyama. It hadn’t been a joke. It had never been a joke. But, people only really seemed to listen to Kuroo _after_ his predictions came to fruition.

      “We don’t know for sure that Towada’s dead.”

      Kuroo snorted. “Yeah, because Kageyama’s really going to go to the trouble of gathering supplies and knowledge only to go to Towada and say…” Kuroo cleared his throat in order to muster up a deeper, Kageyama-like voice, before continuing. “Hey, buddy! I trust you’re not going to say anything, especially to your girl Aida, so you know what? I’ll let you go and you can keep being the same old asshole C.O. you are, alright? Because you’re totally not going to go snitching the second I leave this room, right? Whoo! Best buds forever. Say, should we make friendship bracelets? Eat lunch together? You know, maybe it’ll atone for the fact that I want to see you dead!”

      Kuroo rolled his eyes before switching back into his normal voice. “Say, what else do you think would happen in your little dream world of Kageyama not killing people?”

      “For fuck’s sake, Kuroo,” Tsukishima hissed. “Why are you so difficult?”

      “Why are you so naïve?”

      The two glared at each other for some moments, neither of them speaking until Kuroo groaned and stepped back.

      “I don’t care if I’m being childish. I’m pissed, alright? I don’t want to go to Shinzen. To be honest, I’m pissing myself at the idea of having to go there.”

      “We’re not going to go to Shinzen, alright? We just… we need to be careful.”

      At first, Kuroo was tempted to respond with something pessimistic. But then, he had a thought.

      “Yeah,” Kuroo said, deciding to act on that thought of his. “You’re right. We’re not going to go to Shinzen, because fuck that.”

      Kuroo began to sprint towards the main building, realising that he might still have a chance at stopping Kageyama if he made it to Towada’s office in time.

***

      And now, he was here, standing with a moody, murder-free Kageyama.

      “I don’t want to be your brother,” Kageyama muttered. They’d both tried to pretend that it wasn’t true and that they weren’t brothers, but pretending didn’t really seem to work anymore. It wasn’t like they felt any sort of brotherly bond (hell, they couldn’t even breathe the same air without starting an argument) but even so, they couldn’t keep pretending that they didn’t share the same blood.

      “Oh, come on. I’m not that bad.”

      Kageyama frowned. “Do I have to call you Nii-san now?”

      Kuroo let out a snort of laughter. “God, no. Please don’t.”

      “Nii-chan?”

      Kuroo started laughing so hard that he almost choked on his chocolate. Kageyama sounded so damn innocent when he said ‘chan’. He’d grown used to Kageyama omitting honorifics for pretty much anyone who wasn’t Oikawa.

      “Jesus Christ, please never say that again.”

      “What do I call you then?” Kageyama didn’t even seem to be fazed by Kuroo’s laughter, although there was still a frown pulling at his lips.

      “Kuroo,” he responded at last once he’d finally stopped laughing. “There’s no reason any of it has to change, you know. But, now that we’re family… you know… I don’t have any other biological family members out there.”

      “Likewise.”

      “This doesn’t mean I like you,” Kuroo warned, pointing at Kageyama, “nor do I enjoy having to save your ass every time you do something stupid. But, it means that I’m over the shock now. I mean, imagine. We’re brothers.”

      Kageyama shuddered. “You’re not alone.”

      “I’m really not that bad, you know. You don’t have to make that expression.” When Kageyama’s expression only darkened even further, Kuroo rolled his eyes. “A kouhai like you should respect his senpai.”

      “As we’ve already established, you’re only one minute older than me,” Kageyama reminded Kuroo in an annoyed tone.

      “Sixty seconds is a lot, Kageyama.”

      Kageyama sighed. “Don’t you have dandelions to dig up or something? Stop bothering me.”

      At this, Kuroo was unable to help the laughter which billowed out from his lips. He hadn’t been in the lightest of moods five minutes ago, but now, he couldn’t deny that it felt nice to know that he had family next to him. Sure, he hadn’t gotten along too well with this brother of his, but… that could change.

      “I can see it now, you know,” Kuroo commented, a smirk pulling at his lips. “We’re both whiny little bitches when we want to be.”

      “In case you didn’t take the hint, fuck off.”

      “Fine, Nii-chan.”

      This time, the both of them started laughing at how alien it felt — well, at least until they heard a shocked gasp from the doorway. They’d actually forgotten that they were still in the dorm, and Kuroo being Kuroo, he couldn’t control his volume for the life of him.

      “You guys are actually brothers?” Suga walked over to where they were stood. He looked from Kuroo to Kageyama, eyes narrowed in confusion. “Huh? I thought that was just some sort of joke going on with the prison since Tobio never actually said anything about it. What the hell? Why didn’t anyone say anything?”

      “I was going to tell you, Suga,” Kageyama insisted. “It’s just—”

      “Excuses, excuses.”

      Suga tutted to himself, arms folded as he regarded the two. Kuroo could see Suga’s irritation as clear as day — and to be completely honest, Kuroo didn’t blame Suga for being annoyed. After all, Suga had been kept out of the loop regarding this brother business.

      Then again, judging by how Suga’s eyes had softened somewhat (although his arms were still folded defensively), Kuroo knew that Suga was relieved deep down. This brother business meant that Kuroo would have to start getting along with Kageyama, and in all honesty, their friendship would mean fewer arguments. And fewer arguments meant fewer headaches for both Nekoma and Karasuno.

      Suga turned as if to leave the two to talk amongst themselves. However, Kuroo noticed Suga’s body stiffening as his eyes drifted lower, all the way down to the defiled extension cord which was laid at Kageyama’s feet.

      “What happened to that cord?” Suga’s eyes darted back up to Kageyama’s, Suga taking a step forwards as he regarded Kageyama with a somewhat fearful expression on his face. “Tobio?”

      “Nothing,” Kageyama muttered in response to Suga.

      Kuroo let out a sigh. “Nii-chan here—”

      “Don’t call me that.”

      “—decided that it would be a good idea to try and electrocute fucking Towada in his office using an extension cord.”

      “Wait, what?”

      Kageyama and Suga had spoken at the same time, Kageyama wearing a clear expression of shock on his face while Suga had a deathly pale expression on his face. Kuroo couldn’t help but find himself thinking that Kageyama’s expression looked surprisingly genuine, almost as if he had no idea how ‘death’ could be linked to his being in Towada’s office. Unfortunately, Kuroo knew Kageyama better than anyone else. He knew about Kageyama’s track record with murders. Kageyama had gone into that room to eliminate Towada, and nothing could convince Kuroo otherwise.

      “Kuroo, you’re wrong—”

      “No, no, no. I’m not wrong. He’s a liability in your eyes and you want to get rid of him,” Kuroo reminded Kageyama with a raised eyebrow. “Just tell the truth for once. I literally caught you hooking the wires up to his doorknob. I’m lucky it was off when I touched it.”

      Suga’s throat went dry with nerves. “Wait… so you know what Towada did?”

      “Well, yeah. I know everything there is to know about that man,” Kageyama responded. “Has a birthmark on his upper left shoulder. Had blue hair at one point. Has a crush on Aida. Easy to corrupt. Boneheaded. Too emotional. And most importantly, he’s a piece of shit. But, don’t listen to Kuroo. I was not trying to kill him.”

      “Then what were you doing?” Kuroo questioned with a raised eyebrow. When Kageyama’s mouth froze in place, incapable of forming words to defend himself, Kuroo nodded slowly while chuckling. “Yeah. Thought so.”

      “Listen, Tobio. I know that what he did is bad… but we have to think about it logically. Chances are, it wasn’t just Towada’s decision. It might’ve been an order from the higher-ups. I mean, no offence to Towada, but he doesn’t seem like the brightest pencil in the box. He couldn’t think up a story that elaborate about Hinata’s sister ending up in a crash now, could he? If anything—”

      “Wait, what? What are you talking about? What crash?”

      “Shit,” Suga hissed, a flash of regret in his irises as he quickly averted his gaze from Kageyama’s. Kuroo raised an eyebrow in question as he looked from Suga to Kageyama, who had completely different expressions on their faces now. Kageyama looked more confused than he did pissed, while Suga’s facial expression might as well have been screaming “oh shit”.

      “What crash, Suga?”

      Kuroo looked from Suga to the now-suspicious Kageyama, his senses on full alert. He himself was curious to know what crash Suga was talking about, but he had to make sure that Kageyama didn’t run off and start using murder as a solution to all of his problems. Kuroo really didn’t understand why Kageyama did that. Murder didn’t exactly solve anything. It only created more problems. More pain. More strife in this prison of theirs.

      “You’re wrong about what happened on the day of Hinata’s suicide attempt,” Suga said after a long, tense pause. “I phoned the Hinata residence. Hinata’s sister was never in any accident. But, Towada had a paper on a desk which stated something different. There was a picture of her, and beneath it was some writing about what had happened to her. A car accident, and something about her being taken off life support. So… Hinata was tricked into believing that his sister was dead.”

      “Wait,” Kuroo said, his facial expression one of disbelief. “So… you were right?”

      “There’s one more thing,” Suga rushed to say. “The paper said that the man who ran her over rolled his car window down and yelled something. Multiple onlookers confirmed it. He said…” Suga cleared his throat, fiddling with his fingers as he said the words. “They take Takeru, we’ll take Natsu.”

      And finally, everything was beginning to make sense. Hinata, believing that he was the reason for Natsu’s death, decided that the only way to stop anyone else in his life getting hurt was to kill himself. Having concluded that the easiest way to do it was to overdose on drugs, he went to the chapel. But when he was rejected due to Shiratorizawa’s resentment of Karasuno, he had to resort to Plan B.

      “H—Hanging himself… so… it wasn’t… he wasn’t…”

      Kageyama suddenly appeared fragile, his knees trembling as if they were about to give way. Honestly, they might’ve if not for the fact that Kuroo had decided to offer Kageyama his shoulder to lean on.

      “I should’ve… I’m his… I was his… I should’ve known,” Kageyama stammered, so taken aback by the news that he could barely string his sentences together. Suga was the only one who had suspected foul play with Hinata’s suicide attempt. Everyone else had just attributed it to his post-Johzenji sorrow, even Kageyama himself.

      Somehow, Kageyama felt like he’d let Hinata down even further.

      “Suga, I’m impressed,” Kuroo said, cocking an eyebrow in Suga’s direction. “You found out that much by yourself?”

      “Yeah, I did,” he nonchalantly responded.

      All Kuroo could do was stare in silent wonder as he watched Suga lean against a nearby wall, keeping a careful eye on Kageyama. It was times like this that Kuroo couldn’t help but think about just how fitting Suga was as Kageyama’s right-hand man. Suga’s skills were often overshadowed by Kageyama, considering that Kageyama was the face of Karasuno and the one who everyone feared, but Suga was the tenacious guy who allowed Kageyama’s skills to shine as bright as they did. They really were a formidable duo.

      “But,” Suga continued, “this doesn’t mean that we go after Towada. Chances are, he was ordered to do this. I can’t imagine that he’d be allowed to make up such an elaborate lie and get away with it unless the higher-ups are in on it. So…”

      “You’re telling me Aida used Hinata’s life as a tool,” Kageyama stated, somewhat dumbfounded.

      Suga nodded. “Ultimately, her job’s to get you out of here. That’s what she’s getting paid to do. You’re finding out her weaknesses, and she’s also finding out yours. It just so happened she exploited yours before you could exploit hers.”

      “Fuck,” Kageyama spat, raking a hand through his hair as he looked up towards the doorway. “You know what? I’m sorting this out right now—”

      “Oh no you don’t,” Kuroo said, grabbing Kageyama’s arm and practically flinging him over in Suga’s direction. “Please, keep an eye on him. The last thing we need is him playing stabby-stabby when we’re not looking. We need to lay low.”

      “Lay low? What the fuck do you mean lay low? How the hell are you my brother? No-one of my bloodline would dare ‘lay low’,” Kageyama snarled, the resentment in his tone clear. “You tell me that Aida went after Hinata and then you expect me to lie down and let her walk all over me as well? No fucking way. I’m calling my connects, I’m calling in my favours and I’m going to bring this to an end, _now_.”

      “Listen. I know you’re pissed about having your own tricks played on you, but calm down,” Kuroo said, lowering both hands in an attempt to try and get Kageyama to stop glaring all over the place. “You and I both know you don’t have any connects left on the outside. We stopped being able to pay them after our contraband system got cut off. The rest of our money is in overseas bank accounts and we can’t get to them without a laptop, internet, and Tsukki.”

      “But—”

      “Yes, you’ve got favours, but what can they do? Kill off Aida? I mean, Kageyama… haven’t you realised that building up your body count does absolutely nothing? Everyone’s already shit-scared of you. You’re only hurting yourself by raising your body count even further,” Kuroo reminded him while taking a step forwards. “Leave Aida alone. Leave Towada alone. Leave everyone alone, and start being the Kageyama I was once proud to be allied with. We didn’t always hate each other, you know.”

      Kageyama had been about to retaliate, but on the last sentence, he paused and shut his mouth. Silence passed in the room for a few moments as Kageyama thought to himself, appearing as if he were genuinely considering Kuroo’s words.

      Kuroo, for some moments, thought that he’d been able to get through to Kageyama. But, when Kageyama opened his mouth with that ‘look’ on his face, Kuroo knew his words might as well have been bouncing off a brick wall.

      “People don’t listen to words, Kuroo. They listen to body counts. They listen to death. They listen to blood. I’d love to see you suggest something more effective than that,” Kageyama said, arms folded defiantly as he looked over at Kuroo. “Give me a plan. If I like it, I’ll gladly forget about killing anyone.”

      “It takes more than one person to make a plan, idiot,” Kuroo snapped. “There’s no ‘I’ in plan, so I can’t give you shit. All I can do is tell you to _let it go_.”

      “There’s also no logic in that alleged brain of yours, but you don’t hear me complaining,” Kageyama shot back. “You’re insane if you think that I’m going to let this issue die. I’m not letting it go!”

      “Well, it wouldn’t be the first thing you’d let die—”

      “ _What_?”

      “You heard me,” Kuroo snapped, throwing a hand up to stop Suga from intervening. “Can you just trust someone other than yourself for once? You call yourself the leader of Karasuno, but do you ever involve Karasuno in your plans or do you just let the rest of them find out through word of mouth? Remember the Johzenji, Kageyama? We found out before your own team did.”

      “That has _nothing_ to do with this—”

      “Too late, I’m making the links,” Kuroo smoothly interjected. “You like to pretend that you’re so invincible, but you lost your shit when I tried to break our alliance with Karasuno after the Johzenji incident. We all watched you storm out of the chapel after having your childish little tantrum. Sorry to say, but you’re in over your feet.”

      “I’m not in over my feet! I’m Kageyama Tobio!”

      “Yeah, and you’re fucking sinking,” Kuroo retorted, holding up a hand to keep Kageyama from trying to argue with him. “You know that you’re _nothing_ without Nekoma. Nothing. So, it’s either you start learning how to co-operate with people, or you’ll end up in Shinzen where they don’t care about the name ‘Kageyama Tobio’. Where they won’t treat you like the king you think you are. Remember all those people you sent to Shinzen, Kageyama? Remember all those people who you fucked over? Karma will come for you if you don’t shut the fuck up and start listening to me.”

      Kageyama was clearly offended by Kuroo’s words, but Kuroo couldn’t care less about Kageyama’s feelings at this point. At this point, all Kuroo cared about was making sure that Kageyama’s ‘plans’ didn’t land them in Shinzen and give them a hundred more problems to tackle. He wanted Hinata back too — hell, he cared about that injustice just as much as anyone else — but, Kageyama was going about it the wrong way.

      “We didn’t always hate each other,” Kageyama murmured, echoing Kuroo’s words from earlier. He seemed to have calmed down in the brief silence he’d taken to think, although there was still a defensive flint in his eyes. “We used to get along. So… what changed?”

      “You, Kageyama. You changed,” Kuroo replied.

      “But… I’ve always been like this,” Kageyama reminded him. “I don’t know why you’re surprised. I killed in my childhood. You can’t exactly expect me to be a fucking role model now, can you?”

      “Yeah, yeah, you killed a man as a child. Whatever. Your entire legacy consists of either fucking people over or killing them. I get that. But, even while you were doing all that shit, you made sure that your actions were benefitting the people you wanted them to benefit. Nekoma and Karasuno used to matter to you,” Kuroo explained. “You were the one to strengthen our alliance on the outside. But now, you’re the one weakening our alliance. You only care about yourself. You had your selfish moments on the outside, but now… you’re even more selfish than ever.”

      “I’m really not,” Kageyama insisted. “I mean… yeah, I’ve fucked people over, but it was for the greater good. Everything I do is for the greater good.”

      “Well, your morals are clearly skewed, so I’m taking the wheel,” Kuroo said, holding up a hand to shush any of Kageyama’s protests. “Nope, nope, nope. Not done speaking. Actually, Suga hasn’t even had a chance to speak yet. Let’s both listen to what Suga has to say.”

      “Well… uh… I have to say that I agree with what Kuroo’s said so far,” Suga said, ignoring the incredulous look that Kageyama was giving him. “I know it’s harsh, Tobio, but… Kuroo’s not wrong. I’d word it differently, perhaps, but… it’s true. You need to communicate more with the people around you. You can’t just plan to kill Towada without telling anyone.”

      “For the last time,” Kageyama slowly reiterated, “I wasn’t going to kill him.”

      Suga tilted his head to the left inquisitively, almost as if he were a mother cat questioning a newborn kitten. His wide, brown eyes only added to the ‘cat’ illusion. “What was it then? A warning?”

      “I didn’t even know about the crash until you told me!”

      “Then why were you in there?” Suga and Kuroo questioned simultaneously.

      “To break out,” Kageyama muttered after a pause.

      “What?” Suga raised an eyebrow. “Raise your voice a little, Tobio.”

      “I wanted to break out, alright? I knew no-one was going to do anything about Hinata so I started making plans to break out of here,” Kageyama admitted, a pouty expression on his face as he looked down at his feet. “I just… I was going to…”

      “Wait…” Suga’s facial expression had previously been an inquisitive one, but now it seemed to be reflecting something which was akin to betrayal. “So… you were planning to leave the rest of us behind?”

      “No! Fuck, no,” Kageyama hurriedly replied, his hands becoming shaky with nerves as he looked over at Suga. “I swear, Suga. I wasn’t going to leave anyone behind. I mean, I would’ve said something eventually—”

      “What, on a United States postcard from a guy called ‘Swageyama Tobiyolo’?” Kuroo raised an eyebrow at Kageyama. “ _Hey, sorry I didn’t break you guys out but I’m safe so that’s all that matters, kay? Have fun rotting behind bars!_ ”

      “Don’t make it out like that,” Kageyama insisted, raising his head to meet Kuroo’s gaze. “For fuck’s sake, I’m not breaking out! It was just an idea—”

      “Then why did we have to force it out of you?”

      “Because I wasn’t sure, alright? I wasn’t sure of myself! Stop fucking interrogating me,” Kageyama said, throwing both hands out in frustration as he turned to go towards his room. “I can’t do this anymore—”

      “No, no, no. This conversation isn’t over,” Suga said, reaching for Kageyama’s outstretched hand and pulling him back over before he could try and retreat to his room. “Listen, Tobio. Just listen to me. I get you’re in love with Hinata, and I understand that love’s a crazy fucking emotion. But… we’ve been friends for twenty years. Now, I know you weren’t going to go through with it. You have no way of escaping without our help. But… it hurts me that you’d even consider trying to escape without me. Or the others.”

      “I’m sorry, damnit. I wasn’t… I wasn’t trying to hurt anyone,” Kageyama insisted, tears now beginning to well up in his eyes. “I just want Hinata back…”

      “Tobio… I hate to say this, but you need to stop acting like everything's a bigger deal just because it's happening to you. Every single person in Karasuno and Nekoma and this prison is away from someone that they love, so why are you entitled to do what you want just because you miss Hinata? You didn’t care about the Johzenji’s feelings and thoughts when you put that bomb in their dorm. So, why should everyone have to bend over backwards just to get Hinata back to you? You might be at the top of the prison, but that doesn’t mean you get to be selfish. You’re hurting everyone around you,” Suga said, his voice calm as he released Kageyama’s hand. “Walk away from this conversation if you want. But, you can’t walk away from yourself. You’ve got some character flaws to fix.”

      “Suga, I wouldn’t leave you behind,” Kageyama insisted, stubbornly wiping his tears away with one hand before reiterating his point. “I wouldn’t.”

      “Maybe not,” Suga said, his hand settling on his hip, “but you’d leave everyone else behind. And that’s just as bad.”

      “Fine. I’ve got problems with trusting others. That’s nothing new,” Kageyama said. “But, I grew up having to rely on myself—”

      “No, you didn’t! You had a family, for God’s sake. They chose you and gave me away,” Kuroo snapped, no longer able to take Kageyama’s constant excuses. “You had a bond with your mom right out the womb, and a ‘flat’ is far from being a place where you have to rely on yourself. A ‘flat’ isn’t the same as the countryside. It’s not the same as the slums. It’s not the same as living on the streets. Your dad was an abusive asshole. I get that. But, you weren’t ‘alone’. You had your mom in the early years of your life, and Suga and Daichi were there in the later years of your life. Twenty fucking years, Kageyama. Don’t say you did it all yourself. Stop forgetting about the people who helped you, and start taking responsibility for your fucking actions!”

      Kageyama stared at Kuroo, somewhat stunned by his outburst. Usually, his first reaction would’ve been a rebuttal, but… he couldn’t help but find himself seeing the truth in Kuroo’s words. Kageyama’s childhood hadn’t exactly been a walk in the park, but he’d had a support system. Suga and Daichi had supported him through thick and thin. Kuroo had been on his own through a huge chunk of his childhood, and yet… he seemed to have much more sense than Kageyama did.

      “You’re right,” Kageyama said at last, head bowed in resignation as he allowed his arms to flop by his sides. “It’s selfish. I’m selfish. That’s why… that’s why Hinata left me in the first place. I think… I owe you both an apology.”

      “You owe us more than that,” Kuroo fired back. “You owe us a whole load of promises. First off, no-one dies, and I mean _no-one_. I can’t take any more fucking deaths on my conscience. Second, no bullshit. You and I both know what I mean by that. And third, don’t forget the team. It’s not ‘I’. It’s not ‘me’. It’s ‘we’, and we’re a fucking team.”

      “Kuroo… sorry to break the mood, but you’re really scary,” Suga said, appearing somewhat spooked by the concentrated, angry expression on Kuroo’s face. “You only ever get this intense when it comes to Tobio…”

      “Well, maybe if he didn’t take years off my life with his antics, I’d be able to calm down a bit,” Kuroo grumbled, although he did make an effort to try and calm his anger down a bit. “Anyway, Kageyama. Do we have a deal?”

      “Yeah,” Kageyama replied, nodding his head diligently. “You know… I do want to change. I know you seem to think I’m content like this, but… I’m not. I know I’ve got a long way to go. So… thanks for lighting a fire under my ass.”

      “Oh, I’ve had this fire under your ass for a while now,” Kuroo said, eyebrow raised as he began to step towards the doorway. “You’re only taking notice because you haven’t got any armour left. There’s only so many loopholes you can exploit…”

      “Wait, wait, wait,” Suga called out, holding up a hand to grab Kuroo’s attention. “You guys need to pinky promise to make it count!”

      “Suga, this isn’t elementary school,” Kuroo remarked with a snort.

      “It still means something though,” Suga insisted. “Please.”

      Kuroo rolled his eyes, but walked over to Kageyama without complaint.

      “Now, Tobio,” Suga continued, clearly satisfied by the fact that this pinky promise was taking place, “you remember the principle behind a pinky promise, right?”

      Kageyama nodded, but didn’t say anything.

      “Kuroo, I’m gonna assume that you know.”

      Kuroo nodded, but like Kageyama, didn’t open his mouth to speak.

      “For this to work, you two need to stick together. No matter what. So, you two are going to make a promise,” Suga began, his tone cheerful yet serious. “No matter what happens… you two will always have each other’s back. Always. And, regardless of how shit goes from here on, you won’t abandon each other. From this point on, it’s not about ‘me’. It’s not about ‘I’. It’s about ‘we’. It’s about the team. And if you can’t promise each other that, we’re as good as dead.”

      “I can promise that,” Kuroo said, looking up so that he was making eye-contact with Kageyama. “I know we’ve had our differences. We’re far from being friends. But… I’ve got your back, Kageyama. I expect the same from you.”

      “I’ve protected Nekoma for the past few years, haven’t I? That’s not going to change,” Kageyama replied, holding out his pinkie in order to initiate the pinky promise. “We’re not friends. But… I respect you, weirdly enough.”

      “It’s not weird,” Kuroo retorted, also holding his pinkie out. “I’ve saved your ass from trouble time and time again. If you didn’t respect me, I’d have to beat your ass myself.”

      Kageyama snorted. “Whatever.”

      It was at this point that the two latched pinkies while Suga watched over the two of them, saying “one, two, three” to lead them into the usual ritual of a pinky promise. Once Suga hit “three”, Kageyama and Kuroo began to chorus a “cross my heart, hope to die, stick a needle in my eye” before unlatching their pinkies with a sense of finality. They let out sighs not long after. Kageyama’s sigh was one of tiredness, while Kuroo’s was one of relief.

      “Like I said last time,” Suga said with a twinkle in his eye, “I really will stick a needle in your eye if either of you abandon each other. You’re family. Family don’t leave each other behind.”

      “I know, I know,” Kageyama said, letting out a groan. “Jesus Christ, should I pledge my soul to the guy as well?”

      “I wasn’t aware you had one,” Kuroo commented with a snicker.

      Kageyama glared at Kuroo for some moments, only for Kuroo to laugh even harder and start ruffling Kageyama’s hair. Kageyama tried to dodge Kuroo’s attempts, but Kuroo was taller and much more agile than Kageyama. So, Kageyama had to stand there and glare up at Kuroo in silent resentment while Kuroo cheerfully messed up Kageyama’s hair.

      “See ya, bro,” Kuroo said, lifting his hand away at last as he turned in the direction of the doorway. “I’m headed back to the garden. Get some sleep, why don’t you?”

      Kageyama didn’t stop glaring, even after Kuroo had left.

      “Hey, cheer up. I know you’re still mad about Hinata, and trust me… I’m mad too,” Suga admitted. “But, you won’t get anything done on your own. If we do things this way, through teamwork, the end result will be much better. This way, we’re bound to ruin the prison. Not temporarily, but forever. It all ends here, Tobio. It all ends here.”

      “Not really, since we’re ‘laying low’—”

      “Shut up. Don’t kill my moment,” Suga grumbled while slapping the back of Kageyama’s head in punishment. “You know what I mean. Now, go and take Kuroo’s advice. I’m off to the memorial spot.”

      “Fine. I’ll take a nap. But… just so you know, I still don’t think things are going to be that clear-cut,” Kageyama insisted.

      “It’ll be fine,” Suga fired back. “Just… promise me one thing.”

      “What?”

      “Have faith in us. We might not be as brilliant as you… but we’re still pretty damn good.”

      A few beats of silence passed, but Kageyama soon nodded his head, his previous air of irritation now nowhere to be seen. “Yeah. Sure. But… don’t forget what’s on the line.”

      “Don’t worry,” Suga said, beginning to flounce out of the dorm with a flair to his step. “I won’t. And if I do… feel free to stick a needle in my eye.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dialogue-heavy chapter, I know. This ended up becoming longer than I thought, haha


	36. Ready to Fly

Chapter Thirty-Six: Ready to Fly

      It was twenty-four hours later when the members of Nekoma and Karasuno were called in for a meeting, this time in the Karasuno dorm rather than the chapel. While Kageyama had insisted on no meetings until the following week, the unexpected circumstances had meant that it was unavoidable. They needed to have a meeting before anything else could happen.

      However, much to Kageyama’s annoyance, he had no idea what was going to be discussed. Suga had called the meeting and he was refusing to say anything conclusive. Not to mention, the meeting was being held in _his_ room. There weren’t any C.Os in the Karasuno dorm, but there was an intrusive little camera up in the corner (no thanks to Aida). Therefore, it made sense to hold the meeting in Kageyama’s room. Kageyama still wasn’t happy about it though. It made him even madder when Kuroo stepped in with muddy boots, leaving dried soil on _his_ carpet and then having the audacity to go to _his_ fridge and take out a pot of _his_ yoghurt and use _his_ spoon to eat said yoghurt. Kageyama might’ve gone and complained about it, but Suga had forbidden him from starting arguments with anyone. So, Kageyama stood off to one side, fuming silently to himself as the rest of the members entered his room.

      “Who’s calling this meeting?” Kuroo asked once everyone had finished coming in. The door was tightly shut and Kinoshita was keeping guard outside. Ennoshita had his pen and notebook ready.

      “I am,” Suga responded. “There’s something important that needs to be discussed. While I know there’s been some friction with our groups…”

      “Friction’s putting it lightly,” Yaku muttered.

      “We need to set that aside right now. And we need to start thinking about the future. Now, as you all should know, orders have been given that we need to stay low. Out of sight, out of mind. This tactic isn’t going to work for long,” Suga warned. “But, this week, Noya and the others are finally coming back to the prison. There’s no way they’ll lose their trials, not with the evidence that proves it wasn’t them. We can’t do anything final, not until they come back. We’re weak right now. But when we get our guys back? We’ll be able to start doing some real planning for October 10th.”

      “We’re escaping this year? I thought Escape Day was just a joke,” Yaku responded. “I mean, Nishinoya started it for a laugh and then people joined in but… are we seriously going to try it when the C.Os are expecting it?”

      “They won’t be expecting it,” Suga corrected. “Not if we prepare ourselves.”

      “Well, everyone does it every year,” Kai pointed out. “It’s the Fukurodani tradition. Is it really worth a meeting?”

      “Oh, not everyone. At least, not at Shinzen.”

      The moment the word ‘Shinzen’ left Suga’s mouth, there were varying shades of “what the hell do you mean Shinzen?” heard around the room, while Kageyama’s eyes widened ever-so-slightly. Kageyama had never once considered the possibility of going to Shinzen. Not once. He’d fight to stay in this place, no matter what.

      “Shinzen,” Suga repeated once again, “also known as max. As I said, guys. We need to start thinking about the possible future. If we get thrown in there, we need to have agreed signals. Agreed plans in order to make it out.”

      “Suga, I understand your thinking, but we don’t know anything about Shinzen,” Kuroo said, dusting his hands off and tossing his empty yoghurt container to one side. “None of us have ever been there. It’s maximum security, for God’s sake. If we can’t get out of this place, how are we meant to escape Shinzen?”

      Suga smiled. “Teamwork. And it’ll all start with this guy.”

      Everyone’s gazes followed Suga’s until they fell upon Kageyama at last, who was currently sucking the dear life out of a milk carton.

      _Wait, when the hell did he go to his fridge?_

      Kageyama raised an eyebrow at everyone. “What?”

      “Tobio. You’ll be in charge of planning. You’re meticulous about everything, so you’ll lead everyone.”

      Next, Suga turned to face Kuroo. “Chances are, we’ll be placed in different blocks based on our dorms or gangs. They’ll know who we are. So, Kuroo. You’ll be in charge of things your side. You’re not as meticulous as Tobio, but you’re more versatile—”

      “Excuse me?”

      “—Tobio, shut up.”

      “Sorry.”

      “Tsukishima, you’re going to be super important.”

      Suga continued to go around the room, telling everyone what their roles would be in the case of a plot twist. At the rate they were going, it felt unlikely, but Aida was an unpredictable foe. Things could go downhill at any given time.

      “And as for me, I’ll gather all the materials that we need. I’ll be nice to the C.Os down there so that they let me do laundry work or something,” Suga explained, grinning over at everyone in the room. “Any questions?”

      Predictably enough, everyone put their hands up. Well, except for Kageyama, who opted for shouting out his opinion without putting his hand up.

      “I don’t see the point of talking about Shinzen,” Kageyama commented. “That’s impossible. There’s no way we’ll get sent down there.”

      “No, I think we will get sent there. I think we should _want_ to get sent down there,” Suga replied. “We can’t break out of Fukurodani. There’s too many eyes on us. But at Shinzen? More prisoners, less staff… sure, it’s stricter, but those are the perfect conditions for us to break out, don’t you think?”

      “That’s ridiculous,” Kageyama insisted. “We shouldn’t even be considering Shinzen. We have zero power over there. Our only influence is here. There’s no reason for us to be discussing this.”

      “No, I get why we’re talking about this,” Kuroo said. “Prison is unpredictable. It doesn’t hurt to know what we’re doing so that we’re not left to rot behind bars for the rest of eternity. We’ll have the upper hand!”

      “We don’t know the layout. Don’t know what the C.Os are like. Don’t know what systems are in place. Don’t know if they have the same kind of hierarchy we have. Planning for something we can’t anticipate is futile,” Kageyama countered, listing off each point of reasoning with his fingers. “If anything, we should be speaking about how not to go to Shinzen in the first place.”

      “That’s your problem. You never think about the long-term,” Kuroo snapped. “That’s like how in high schools, they tell you not to have sex if you don’t want to catch STDs. Instead, they should tell you to slap on a condom if you want to avoid STDs entirely. But, that’s not my point. My point is that we need prevention, not avoidance.”

      For the first time in quite a while, Tsukishima found himself agreeing with Kuroo. Clearly enough, so did everyone else in the room, judging by the nods and the murmurs of agreement.

      “This plan would be the equivalent of me planning to go to hell and take Satan’s throne when I die,” Kageyama countered, his tone serious. “First of all, I don’t know if hell exists. I can only find out by dying. Second of all, maybe fate will take pity on me and send me to heaven. And third of all, even if I do make my way down to hell and find Satan, there’s no guaranteeing that he sits on a throne. We can’t guarantee that they won’t send us to some other maximum-security prison in the country. Can’t guarantee that we won’t end up on death row. Can’t guarantee that we won’t get slaughtered in our sleep before we can even consider escape.”

      “Well… that’s depressing,” Kuroo said at last. Once again, there were some nods and murmurs of agreement. “But, you’re not wrong.”

      At this, everyone turned to face Kuroo. “Huh?”

      “What? He’s not,” Kuroo repeated once again. “We could get sent somewhere other than Shinzen. Could end up on death row. But, that’s not a reason not to try and do something about it beforehand. You know. If you jump off a cliff and there’s water waiting for you at the bottom, you can do nothing and let yourself die. Or, you can make your body horizontal and increase your surface area. You’ll still end up with some sort of injury, but you’ll be alive.”

      “Honestly, I’m just surprised you know how surface area works,” Tsukishima said, unable to help himself from commenting. Kuroo rolled his eyes in response, although a small smile tugged at his lips.

      “My point is,” Kuroo continued, “if we give ourselves even the slightest chance, it’ll work out in our favour. But if we close ourselves off to any other possibilities, it’ll fuck us in the ass.”

      “What if we want to be fucked in the—”

      “Alright then,” Kageyama interjected, cutting Ennoshita off mid-sentence before the two could start getting into it. “It looks like the most important thing will be to figure out what privileges we can wrangle from the C.Os in Shinzen, what their personalities are like and how we can exploit their weaknesses. That’ll be Kinoshita’s task. Ennoshita, make sure to tell him.”

      Kageyama wasn’t going to outright admit that he agreed with Kuroo, but his compliance was speaking volumes. The others were currently exchanging looks, realising that maybe this ‘brother discovery’ had worked out in everyone’s favour. Kuroo and Kageyama constantly arguing had gotten old after a while. It was relieving to see that they were finally starting to understand each other’s viewpoints.

      “On it,” was Ennoshita’s response.

      “Who has the best eyesight here?”

      Again, Ennoshita spoke. “Kinoshita’s got 20/20 vision.”

      “In that case, he’ll be in charge of observing. We need to know when the prison vans come in and when food trucks come in. Things like that.”

      Ennoshita scribbled down Kageyama’s words before responding with an “Understood”.

      “Once we have the signals down, it’s important that we’re able to get messages from one place to another. The C.Os will be much tougher than they are here, so we’ll need to get two people in position to pass messages to each other. Everyone following me?”

      “Yep. We are,” Suga responded, finally able to relax as he watched the conversation go on. It reminded Suga of when Nekoma and Karasuno had first joined forces on the outside and they’d all been getting to know one another, settling into the rhythm of things.

      It felt as if they’d gone back in time, back when they’d been the two most powerful gangs in the entirety of Japan.

***

      “Oikawa-san. I need to speak to you.”

      Oikawa looked up at Kageyama and smiled despite the weary look on his face. It was obvious that the smile was fake, but Kageyama didn’t bother to point it out. “That’s what I’m here for,” he responded.

      It was Thursday morning, and after a night of constant tossing and turning, Kageyama had been unable to take it anymore. He’d laced his boots, made his way out of his dorm and now he was standing outside of Oikawa’s office door where he’d been waiting for a good half-hour. A quick glance down at his watch told him it was ten to seven, which meant he’d been standing out here for a good half-hour.

      “I’ll open the door,” Oikawa said, unlocking his office door and walking in, Kageyama following behind him. Kageyama quietly shut the door before moving to sit opposite Oikawa, the two of them sitting in pensive silence until Kageyama finally spoke up.

      “I need to open up about something,” Kageyama began. “You’ve been working here even before I came to this prison. You’ve watched me claw my way to the top. You’ve watched me sacrifice everything for power. I’d like to say we built a friendship of sorts. That’s why I’m going to say what I’m about to say.”

      “Well, someone’s feeling sentimental this fine morning,” Oikawa joked.

      “I’m going to die soon, Oikawa-san.”

      At the words, Oikawa’s eyes widened ever-so-slightly, but he didn’t interrupt Kageyama.

      “Someone was able to make me believe that Hinata genuinely wanted to kill himself. I should’ve known him better than anyone else, but I still believed that it was the truth,” Kageyama explained. “I’ve heard it from everyone. That I don’t really know Hinata. But, I remember everything that he’s ever told me. He loves me. His brain might as well be a volleyball made out of manga pages. And… I’m the worst thing that ever happened to him.”

      There wasn’t a single day that Kageyama didn’t replay that argument in his head. Internally cringing at the hurtful things he said to Hinata, trying to keep himself from feeling emotion (and failing) every time he replayed Hinata’s words. He didn’t know why he continued to torture himself like that. But, he would do it every single day without fail. Who was he kidding? He clearly didn’t know Hinata if he couldn’t see that he was hurting Hinata more than he was helping him. Kageyama didn’t know Hinata; he didn’t know him at all.

      “People have been telling me for a while that I’m losing my touch. That ever since I met Hinata, I got soft. And… that’s true. It’s a weakness that’s being exploited as we speak. So, that’s why. I don’t see myself living for much longer, not unless things change,” Kageyama admitted. “But, before my reign comes to an end, I want to speak to Hinata. One more time. I just… I want to hear his voice, and then I can—”

      “You’re a fighter, aren’t you?”

      Kageyama was thrown off guard by the sudden question, but nonetheless nodded.

      “Then, just stop. Think. Explain what’s going on in your head.”

      “I don’t know what’s going on in my head,” Kageyama insisted, placing both hands on either side of his temples. “All I can feel is this constant pain, this agony, and somehow everyone expects me to keep pushing through. The second I try to take time to recover, something’s happening and I have to come back at full force. I’m a fucking mess. I can’t sleep. All I can do is think about him. I’m done for, Oikawa.”

      “I’m so sorry. I know this is unrelated, but you just called me Oikawa… like, you know, you finally dropped the –san after seven years of me telling you to… okay, okay, sorry. Don’t glare at me like that,” Oikawa grumbled. “Okay. So, uh… wait, can you just say it one more— okay, okay. Never mind. It’s fine. But… uh… don’t you know that people live for weaknesses? I mean, back when I played volleyball in my high school, I had a pretty obvious weakness, don’t mind my nudity.”

      All of a sudden, Oikawa was pulling his jeans down to reveal a knee brace on one side of his leg.

      “I got this from overdoing my practices,” he explained. “I thought that I was done for. I never did manage to go to nationals. But… I still had fangirls. If anything, my weaknesses made them love me even more. I even got the ‘Best Setter’ award! So, Tobio, when you—”

      “You’re not dropping my honorific.”

      “Aw, come on. You dropped mine.”

      Kageyama narrowed his eyes at Oikawa in response. “How long are you going to stand there half-naked, anyway?”

      “Feel proud of yourself, Tobio-chan. You’re the first gay man to remain entirely unbothered by me taking off my jeans,” Oikawa remarked, pulling his jeans back on before plopping back into his chair. “Stunning.”

      “Don’t take it personally, but I’m not attracted to you.”

      “I know, I know. I’m too tall for you, right? Kind of ruins your whole dominator image,” Oikawa commented, letting out a snort when he thought back to the ‘Fukurodani Daily’ newsletter cover. “You know? Don’t worry. I know. You know—”

      Kageyama’s glare only deepened as he continued to regard Oikawa. “Can we get back to the original topic?”

      “Oh, right, right. Well, thanks to _someone_ interrupting me, I completely forgot what I was saying. Something about my brace. Oh, yeah. Well, the point I was going for is that when you show weaknesses, it makes you relatable. People root for the people they find the most relatable,” Oikawa pointed out. “Maybe you’ll become the unexpected hero of the prison.”

      “Pretty hard for that to be the case when I’ve done something to hurt pretty much all the dorms in this place,” Kageyama sullenly remarked. “I’m done for, Oikawa. Honestly, even though you’re really inappropriate and annoying—”

      “I am not!”

      “—I wanted to thank you. We might’ve not gotten off to the best start, but you came through for me when I needed it. And… you’re genuinely a good guy. So, thank you.”

      “Hey, hey, hey. If you really want to thank me, bend over.”

      Kageyama raised an eyebrow in question, not really shocked by Oikawa’s overly-suggestive comments anymore. He couldn’t help but wonder how Iwaizumi would be reacting if he were in the room. He’d probably yell “Stop being a pervert, Shittykawa!” before offering his deepest apologies to Kageyama. After all, Iwaizumi had always been quite the gentleman.

      “Get your mind out of the gutter, Tobio-chan! I just want to take a picture of you bowing to me,” Oikawa clarified, laughing at the very idea of it. “Imagine it. The caption could be, _the king finally acknowledges the king of all kings_ —”

      “I take it back.”

      “Fine, fine. Never mind. Be a salty Sally then,” Oikawa pouted, folding his arms together as he slouched in his chair. “If what you say is true… then, I’m going to miss irritating you, my dear kouhai. I really am.”

      “I have one last favour to ask of you,” Kageyama said.

      “Shoot.”

      “Is there any way to get into Aoba Johsai for a temporary stay?”

      At the question, Oikawa sat up straight, realising that the conversation had veered off into a serious topic once more. Oikawa didn’t like it. He didn’t really make a habit of talking serious. But, when it came to Kageyama, serious seemed to be the only thing Oikawa could get from him.

      “First of all, before we talk about Aoba Johsai… you know Ushijima, right?”

      Kageyama was slightly annoyed that Oikawa had interrupted him just to talk about Ushijima, but he nodded. Oikawa passed him a leaflet, which was called ‘Why Aoba Johsai is Not a Good Place to Be – A True Story by Ushijima Wakatoshi’. Ushijima was on the cover wearing overalls. He’d even photoshopped some animals into the background, much to Kageyama’s amusement.

      “You know, he’s super passionate about this topic. It’s kind of annoying, to be honest.”

      Kageyama rolled his eyes at the leaflet and set it back down on Oikawa’s desk before continuing. “I’m ready to risk it, Oikawa. Can I get in there or not?”

      “Well, you tell me. You’ve been in this prison for what, seven years? Have you ever heard of anyone going to Aoba Johsai and actually coming back?”

      When Oikawa received nothing but silence in response, he nodded to himself.

      “Exactly,” Oikawa said. “Tobio, if you—”

      “Ahem.”

      “Tobio-chan,” Oikawa grudgingly corrected, “if you go down to Aoba Johsai, the chances they’ll let you back here are marginal. In other words, non-existent. Don’t forget, Aida-chan’s here to get rid of you. Don’t make it easier for her.”

      “Are you even meant to tell me that?” Kageyama raised an eyebrow quizzically.

      “Oh, come on. Don’t act like you don’t already know that,” Oikawa responded. “Seriously. They don’t do temporary stays. You step through those gates and you’ll never come back out. Seriously, read the leaflet. It’ll answer your questions. I only took it because it had Uglyjima on the cover, but yeah. You know.”

      “So… I have no way of speaking to Hinata?”

      Oikawa shook his head. “Nope. Not through phone and not through letters. The only way is if you go through Aida.”

      Kageyama sighed, but nodded his head. “Well… I just hope Hinata’s okay.”

      “Tobio-chan, don’t mind me for probing, but… assuming that you’re able to get a temporary stay at Aoba Johsai and see Hinata, how do you know that he’ll even want to speak to you?”

      “Huh?”

      “I don’t know the specifics, but from what he told me, his relationship with you was really tense,” Oikawa pointed out. “Like, I’m talking ‘Steve Harvey announcing the wrong name at Miss Universe’ level of tense.”

      “I have no idea who and what that is, but… yeah,” Kageyama admitted, feeling guilty at the reminder of his last few words to Hinata. “We had a bad argument. I don’t think he was mad at me. Just disappointed. And, yeah. I’m disappointed in myself. So, I just… I need to apologise.”

      “I don’t think an apology will solve it. It’s not the first time you two have had a disagreement like this,” Oikawa said. “I mean… you two—”

      “If you’re going to say I’m bad for him, I know. I know that. But I can’t let him sit in there thinking that I don’t care about him, because that’s not the truth,” Kageyama insisted. “He told me his feelings before leaving, and I didn’t get to do the same. I need him to know how I feel. If nothing happens after that, I’ll accept it. But I need to see him.”

      “I wasn’t going to say that, but hey. I believe you. Out of curiosity, if I were able to see him, is there anything you’d want me to say?”

      “Just tell him that I’ll apologise properly once we finally come face-to-face. That’s all. Thanks, Oikawa.” Kageyama heaved out a heavy sigh as he stood up, feeling as if he’d aged an extra ten years. It was probably the lack of sleep. “I’ll see you around.

      “See you, Tobio-chan. And be careful,” Oikawa warned as he began to rip open a pack of digestives. “Don’t meet your end in this prison. Do something cool, like breaking into Aoba Johsai and breaking Hinata out so that I can brag that I knew the guy who did the coolest prison break in history—”

      “Bye, Oikawa.”

      “Hey, don’t cut me off—”

      Before Oikawa could launch into a long tirade, Kageyama had already walked out of the room and shut the door behind him. Oikawa shut and opened his mouth for a few moments as if he were a fish. Then, he shoved one of his digestive biscuits in there.

      That was enough to quell his nerves.


	37. A Wave of Resentment

Chapter Thirty-Seven: A Wave of Resentment

      “It’s finally Sunday, guys.”

      Three days later and the members of Karasuno and Nekoma had all gathered outside in the prison yard, excitedly talking amongst one another as they waited for the prison van to come through. The gates would open, the prison van would enter and the new fish would step out. Amongst those new fish would be Nishinoya, Tanaka, Yamamoto and Asahi. They’d finally be back.

      Over the course of this week, the members had noticed that their privileges were beginning to disappear ever-so-slightly. It had started with little things like cameras being placed in their dorms (whereas the other dorms were simply monitored with the use of C.Os) but on Saturday, Kuroo had been accosted by Aida and told that he had to stop working on the garden. Aida had told him that if he refused to give it up, he’d earn himself a one-way ticket to the SHU. That was the furthest that Aida had gone so far, and she’d go even further unless they got their guys back.

      “We should have a party for them on Monday, don’t you think? We can raid the kitchen, make a chocolate cake and live it up,” Kuroo said to no-one in particular. “I know shit’s going to get real soon. But, I want to have one fun day before it does.”

      “I don’t think we have time to relax,” Kageyama said. “Not now, anyway. They kicked you off the garden already. Next thing we know, they’ll kick us off our table in the cafeteria. We relax for one day, and they’ll take everything.”

      “Jeez, Tobio! I swear you’re always thinking in business terms. You need to let your hair down,” Suga said, breezing into the conversation with that same little chuckle as usual. “We’re all experienced, you know. You don’t always have to be on guard.”

      “I might not have to, but I’m going to be.”

      Suga rolled his eyes but said no more on the topic. It was just Kageyama being Kageyama — that would never change.

      “Any of you know when this van actually arrives? We’ve been standing out here for a good forty minutes and it’s way past twelve,” Tsukishima dryly remarked, unimpressed at how he’d been forced out of his square so damn early. He could’ve been lying in bed, but instead, he’d been forced out into the freezing air in these thin prison garments. Oh, that was something else Tsukishima had noticed. Their clothes weren’t quite as warm as they had once been. It was a small issue, but an issue nonetheless.

      “Getting impatient, Tsukki?” Kuroo grinned in Tsukishima’s direction.

      “Something like that.”

      “I know,” Kuroo said, his eyes lighting up as he opened his mouth to say how they could pass the time while he waited. “You and I can—”

      “I can see the van!”

      Yet again, Ennoshita had prevented Tsukishima from having an actual conversation with Kuroo. Tsukishima knew it for sure now — Ennoshita was the definition of the word ‘cockblock’.

      “Suga, remember when they used to let inmates drive the van? Every time you went out, Icicle would let you get donuts for us,” Yamaguchi reminisced, smiling at the very memory. “Man, I miss those days. Stuff was simpler.”

      “To think, that was just under a year ago,” Suga commented, letting out a nostalgic sigh. “We’ve been here for seven years. Things didn’t really change for the first six. But then, Hinata arrived and everything started to change. That’s amazing.”

      “Amazing? I got kicked off my garden!”

      Suga rolled his eyes at Kuroo. “No. I mean, it’s amazing how one person can have such a huge impact. Considering he doesn’t exactly scream crime, it’s pretty impressive.”

      “It’s even more impressive how our leader here became so enamoured with him,” Tsukishima teased, prompting Kageyama to avoid his gaze.

      And that was how the group of fifteen men got onto teasing Kageyama about how he was slowly becoming less and less dictator-ish by the day as the van approached. It was pumping dark smoke into the clear sky, the engine growling and the gates creaking to allow the van to roll through. Like always, there were inmates gathered around the fences, yelling out various phrases as the van came down.

      “Kageyama-san.”

      Kageyama turned to face Towada, who was stood with a group of C.Os about him. Even with the extra muscle surrounding him, Towada was still somewhat intimidated by Kageyama. Not scared, but intimidated.

      “I’ve been given instructions to allow you and your men past the fence.”

      “Yes! Maybe that Aida woman isn’t so bad,” Kuroo said, practically sprinting in the direction of the fence. They’d all originally been planning to speak to the guys as they got off the van through the fence, but getting to see them face-to-face?

      That was amazing.

      “You’ll need to all come with me. We’ll take you over to the transfer building where the van will stop.”

      The prison was made up of two separate buildings. There was the transfer building, where the prison van arrived and left. Inmates would be registered in this transfer building and given clothing before being walked over to the main building, which was the holding ground for the inmates.

      “That’s alright,” Kageyama said, gesturing for Kuroo to get his ass back over to the rest of them. He didn’t quite understand how Kuroo thought they’d walk through a barbed wire fence, but he was past his days of criticising Kuroo for his brief bouts of stupidity.

      “Great.”

      Towada nodded once before turning and walking, the C.Os forming a protective circle around the group of fifteen as they walked back inside, through the main building and out through a heavily-guarded exit. The exit door required a fingerprint to be opened (a new feature implemented by Aida) so Towada pressed his thumb down before throwing the door open.

      This led out into a small walking area, which would allow them to walk over to the transfer building. It was a short two-minute walk across a path which was lined with cameras, some cheap-looking while some looked particularly sturdy. Tsukishima was instantly able to deduce that the cheap ones were duds while the sturdier ones were genuine cameras. It made sense — the prison didn’t have a humongous budget, but for anyone with a bit of know-how, it wasn’t entirely impossible to avoid being seen by the cameras.

      Finally, they approached the transfer building, where the van was parked. It still hadn’t been opened yet. It seemed that the van was waiting for the members to approach. It was at this stage that Kageyama could feel himself becoming suspicious — surely if they were going to see the guys, they would’ve been already out of the van and waiting to have their reunion moment — but he didn’t voice his concerns. Towada wasn’t stupid enough to cross him, was he?

      “How come they’re still in the van?”

      Kuroo had decided to do what Kageyama didn’t — voice his thoughts. He’d stopped walking and had both feet firmly planted on the ground as he waited for an answer. Suga had stopped along with him, having also realised that there was something weird about the situation. In the five minutes it had taken to get from the prison yard to the transfer building, the van should’ve long stopped. But it was still running, waiting for the members to approach.

      “I wouldn’t know,” Towada responded. “Ask the driver. Now, keep it moving.”

      “No. I want to go back,” Kuroo said. He didn’t know why, but he could sense that there was something wrong with the situation. They didn’t need all these C.Os to escort them to a van. And, judging by how the C.Os ignored Kuroo and pushed him forwards to keep him moving, they were in for something else entirely. That was when the whole group finally figured out that they’d been duped.

      Maybe the guys were in the van.

      But, they weren’t going back to their dorms. They weren’t going back to the cafeteria with bowls of slop and endless seasoning packets. They weren’t going back to their memorial spot.

      Maybe, just maybe, they were on their way to Shinzen.

      “We’ve been had, haven’t we?”

      Kageyama had finally spoken, and this time, he seemed to be addressing Towada.

      “This is your way of getting one over me,” Kageyama continued. “But, this doesn’t mean you win.”

      “This was the safest way,” Towada insisted. He couldn’t explain it to Kageyama, but Aida had been considering possibilities a lot more radical than was what about to happen. In one instance, Aida had even suggested poisoning the members of Karasuno to wipe them out without ‘wasting prison space’. At that, Towada had left the room to discuss the situation with Oikawa, no longer able to remain quiet.

      He hated Karasuno. But, he wouldn’t be content with killing them off. It didn’t sit well with him, and it worried him just how indifferent Aida was to such ideas. Going ahead with the bombing had been bad enough, but her suggestions? They’d been so barbaric that Towada had felt as if he were speaking to the female version of Kageyama. And, seeing how Kageyama was acting now… it seemed like he was changing. Towada didn’t know who the monster was anymore.

      “If we’re going to go out like this,” Kageyama said as they drew closer to the van, “then tell me one thing. What’s the truth behind what happened to Hinata?”

      Towada contemplated informing Kageyama, but stopped himself when he realised one crucial thing. Kageyama no longer seemed to be holding any power over him. Towada had broken free of the strings and Kageyama hadn’t even realised it. Towada wasn’t obligated to tell him a thing. So, he wouldn’t.

      “You’ll have to ask him yourself, Kageyama.”

      As if on cue, the door to the van slid open, darkness all they could see at first. But, at last, a body came into view. A body with blonde hair, piercings that glinted in the light and a flash of white bandages. When this body emerged from the darkness, stepping out of the van and onto prison soil, there was an audible sound of surprise from the group of fifteen members. In fact, Yaku almost fainted when he realised that more and more of these bodies were coming out.

      The Johzenji.

      They were all there, and they were all alive.

      “It really was cowardly what you did, Kageyama.”

      Terushima walked up to Kageyama — well, he hobbled — while leaning heavily on his crutches. He had one leg wrapped up in thick white bandages and a special shoe which had been given to him by the hospital.

      “A sneak attack,” Terushima hissed. “A coward. That’s what you are. You never once fought with grace or respect for your opponents. I’m betting you did something fishy to get rid of Takeru. I don’t know what, but you’re a coward.”

      “I’m… I’m sor—”

      “No. Save it for the guys up in Shinzen when they beat you within an inch of your life,” Terushima began, getting right up in Kageyama’s face as he said the words. Two C.Os held Kageyama by both arms to prevent him lunging at the already-injured Terushima, but it was futile. Kageyama wasn’t going to fight anyone, not now. He’d been beaten out by his own tactic. Deception.

      “You know, we’ve been waiting for this day. We’ve been waiting for the great Tobio-sama to make a mistake, waiting for the shadows in your fucked-up, diabolical mind to drown out your rationality. Izaki and Futa are in Shinzen. You know what they’ll do to you?”

      Terushima’s face was so close to Kageyama’s that Kageyama could taste the malice dripping from Terushima’s words, taste the raw intent that lay beneath them.

      “They’ll beat you to death with your own crown,” Terushima growled, answering his own question. “When night falls and the C.Os become deaf to drama, those two will make sure you feel every last thing you did to this prison. They’ll make you cry like the little boy you are; they’ll make you cry like the little bitch who got way too big for his boots. I don’t care if you feel like you won this ‘battle’. I’ll be the one with your blood on my hands. I’ll never, never let you get the last hit again. Never.”

      “Don’t get too worked up,” Bobata warned, coming from behind Terushima to put a hand on his shoulder. “We don’t need your brain to burst as well as your kneecap. Come on. Can one of you help him walk—”

      “I have a crutch for a reason, Bobata.” Terushima rolled his eyes. “I’ll be good. I can only imagine what these assholes are in for, though. Did I convey your opinions well enough, or do any of you want to get in any final hits—”

      “Go ahead, inmates. You’ve had enough time to speak to these lot,” one man said, emerging from the van. There was the oh-so-distinctive police uniform, shiny silver cuffs and of course a ‘Head Officer’ badge. Fukurodani had really pulled out the stops for this intervention.

      Towada was watching this all, feeling somewhat conflicted. He’d been waiting so long for this day, but now that it was here, he didn’t really feel as satisfied as he might’ve hoped. If it had been him that had been able to make this happen, he would’ve been over the moon, but this was all Aida. This was all her. Towada had been nothing but a spectator. It was impossible to celebrate a victory that wasn’t really his. It was also impossible to celebrate, considering that he’d realised that the woman behind it all was just as bad as the man she’d finally managed to defeat.

      Good and evil were two sides of the same coin, Towada had decided. And, in the case of Fukurodani, this coin was constantly flipping.

      “Well, boys, it’s time. You’re under arrest for the attempted murder of five men from the Johzenji dorm.”

      “Wait, wait,” Ennoshita interrupted, making notes in his notebook. Nowadays, Ennoshita wrote about funny conversations that happened at the dinner tables rather than speculating on people’s private lives. This just so happened to be a conversation worth writing down. “Quick question. How can we be under arrest if we’re already prisoners?”

      “Don’t focus on the specifics, inmate. Just make our jobs easier and get in the van—”

      “Wait.”

      Aida was walking down from the transfer building and to the van, the blow of the wind causing her hair to billow up dramatically as she approached the group of men.

      “Before you take them away,” Aida began, “I’ve got one thing to say. Kageyama, how—”

      “Wait, why is Kageyama getting all the attention? We’re the bad guys too,” Kuroo said, sounding somewhat jealous. “I spray-painted a dick on Towada’s office door. Where’s my dramatic ‘I hate you and I hope you die’ speech?”

      Much to Kuroo’s chagrin, Aida didn’t even turn her head to acknowledge him. She only had eyes for Kageyama, the only true rival she’d ever encountered in life. “Kageyama,” Aida continued, “how does it feel to have lost?”

      “You’re the ones who have lost,” Kageyama said, smirking to himself. “You think getting rid of me will end the prison’s issues? No. There’s a hierarchy that exists. There has to be a top dog. A ruler. I’d like to think I had my benevolent moments. I’m sure the hardened criminals in the Mukankei won’t be as kind as I was.”

      “Yeah, because blowing up an entire dorm is so benevolent.”

      “Speaking of the dorm, I was under the belief that the Johzenji were killed.” Kageyama narrowed his eyes at Aida in suspicion. “Was this some sort of ruse?”

      “Well, we kept it under wraps. Partly to keep them safe from your antics, but mostly to make the investigation a lot easier. We cooperated fully with these lovely officers over here to make sure they had everything they needed to put you in Shinzen,” Aida said, a sickly sweet smile on her face as she said the words. “It’s just a bonus that your lover boy went off his rocker, don’t you think?”

      “Don’t talk about Hinata like that.” Kageyama’s tone became noticeably more defensive when it came to Hinata. He’d sounded somewhat resigned to his fate before, but now, that fighting spirit was back in his voice. “He has nothing to do with this.”

      “Oh, we know. Maybe if I’m feeling nice, I’ll dig up some evidence and get you two a side-by-side cell,” Aida said, her tone obviously mocking. “Feed each other meds, give each other prison tattoos… say, how’s that sound to you?”

      “Fuck off,” Kuroo snapped, rising to Kageyama’s defence. “You already won, damnit. There’s no reason for you to analogise him!”

      “Kuroo, I think you meant _antagonise_ ,” Tsukishima corrected.

      “Even so,” Kuroo continued, glossing over his mistake entirely. “You fucked up Hinata just to bring Kageyama down. I don’t care if Kageyama’s your enemy. You don’t bring innocent people into the mix just to take him down! You told Hinata his sister was dead because of Takeru, for God’s sake. That’s a whole other level of fucked up. And to put the icing on the shit cake you created, you threw him in Aoba Johsai to silence him. It reeks of corruption. And so do you.”

      Kageyama was taken aback by how Kuroo had jumped in so readily to defend him. He was a little too stunned to thank Kuroo for his words, but he knew that at this point… Kuroo was a guy he could trust with his life.

      “Get them all in the van,” Aida said to the officers, completely disregarding Kuroo’s words. “Except Kageyama. I want to say one last thing.”

      The Karasuno and Nekoma members were promptly loaded into the van with the collective efforts of both the officers and the C.Os, and while Kuroo yelled for Aida to answer him and explain herself, all his cries for attention were ignored. He was shoved just a little bit harder by the officers. Towada, watching this, was starting to feel somewhat queasy. He really didn’t like this. Aida was showing her true colours more and more by the second. At first, Towada had seen her as an incompetent woman who didn’t know what she was doing, but he’d been proved wrong. Oh, no. He’d been way off the mark. Aida knew exactly what she was doing.

      “Considering my run in this prison, this ending is pretty anti-climactic,” Kageyama idly commented once it was just him and Aida left standing. “I mean, come on. I bomb a dorm and your response is to bundle me and my guys into a van? How can you call that a victory? People will remember what I did. No-one’s going to remember this.”

      “That’s true. You’re a master at shock value, Kageyama. But, I’m not here to make history. I’m here to make results,” Aida said, looking around herself. “It doesn’t matter how. All that matters is that I make them. And I did, didn’t I? At the end of the day, you’re the one who’ll rot in max. That’s all that matters.”

      “You must be a modern-day Machiavelli,” Kageyama dryly joked.

      “You could say that,” Aida responded. “Honestly, I’m just surprised you haven’t started yelling death threats or exposing my secrets.”

      “Well, I’d like to think that we’re capable of being civilised towards one another,” Kageyama said with a brief nod of the head. “But, I’ll warn you now. You shouldn’t turn up to your job tomorrow.”

      Aida raised an eyebrow. “Oh? Why, are you going to blow us to smithereens?”

      “First of all, the bomb jokes are tired.” Kuroo had made so many bomb jokes in the past few weeks that Kageyama was tired of hearing them. “And second of all… let’s just say that thanks to some men that previously bore a grudge against me, the entire prison will know the truth about you. Purposely hurting inmates, using them as your tools and of course, the corruption. They’ll get to you so that I don’t have to. Karma’s a beautiful thing, isn’t it?”

      For once, Ennoshita’s photographic memory had worked in Karasuno’s favour. Kageyama had instructed Ennoshita to go to his Shiratorizawa buddies and give all the information he had on Aida and the other C.Os so that if Karasuno and Nekoma were sent to Shinzen, the truth would come out. Granted, Kageyama had been caught by surprise, but that didn’t mean that he was unprepared.

      Kageyama didn’t do unprepared.

      “Now, one more question. I was informed that my men’s court trials were not guilty. Was that a lie?”

      “Court trials. As if you actually believed that. They’ve been rotting in Shinzen since they got carted out of this place,” Aida gloated. “And you’re about to join them.”

      “You’re getting a bit too cocky,” Kageyama dryly commented. “It’s irritating.”

      “Oh, I’m glad you’re irritated. I’ve been waiting a very long time for this moment, Kageyama. It’s a shame that Hinata had to suffer for your shortcomings, but this moment still tastes just as sweet,” Aida said, closing her eyes as she took a deep breath. “That’s the taste of liberation right there.”

      Kageyama rolled his eyes. He was irritated, really irritated, but there was no room for violence. His last conversation with Hinata had made him think. Violence… it didn’t really solve anything. It only led to a cycle of more and more violence. He didn’t have to keep on fighting. He didn’t have to keep biting back at everyone like a rabid dog. He had to… he had to just be calm. That was the word. Calm.

      “You have nothing constructive to say to me. So, I’ll be off.”

      “Oh, no you don’t. There’s one last thing. Towada?”

      Towada felt the bile rising in his throat when Aida spoke his name so sweetly, but swallowed it down and moved forwards so that he was close enough to restrain Kageyama if the situation called for it.

      “Do me a favour, will you? Push Kageyama down for me.”

      Kageyama’s head jerked in Towada’s direction sharply when the words left Aida’s lips, his legs moving back to keep him out of Towada’s reach. There were no C.Os on him. No officers on him. Aida had left him unguarded. If he wanted to, he could try and fight them both. But, he wasn’t the type to fight a woman. Besides, he knew it was a lost cause.

      Even so, he was not going to end his reign on his knees. There was no way.

      “Aida, stop this. You’ve done your job. There’s no need to take it any further,” Towada insisted. Kageyama was somewhat surprised to hear the words leaving Towada’s lips, although he didn’t voice his surprise. “Let him go.”

      “Towada, if you’re this soft, how can I let you be the head C.O? I gave you an order,” Aida said, slowly beginning to fold her arms as she regarded him sharply. “Follow it.”

      Towada bit his lip, trying to find a way to avoid this situation, but he couldn’t. So, he walked towards Kageyama, constantly murmuring “I’m sorry” under his breath as he forcibly grabbed Kageyama’s arms, binding them behind his back before he kicked Kageyama in the back of his knees, bringing him down to the ground. He was disgusted with himself, disgusted with himself for being so violent and pitiful. Just like a criminal.

      It was around this moment that Kageyama thought back to everything he’d ever done to Towada. Burning Towada’s hair with a lighter. Pouring boiling hot coffee over his face. Humiliating him. Punching him. Hitting him. He had done all of these horrific, traumatic things to Towada and even so, Towada still didn’t want to hurt him. Kageyama wasn’t sure whether it was because Towada was still fearful of the possibility that Kageyama would come after him or if it was because of his newfound morality, but either way, he couldn’t bear to hear Towada apologising.

      Why was Towada apologising?

      It was Kageyama who should’ve been apologising. He was the one who had destroyed countless lives. He was the one who had made an entire prison hate his guts. There was nothing redeemable about him, and yet, Towada was still apologising.

      “No,” Kageyama said, halting Towada’s apologies at last. “Don’t do that.”

      “I’m sorry,” Towada repeated, his newfound fear of Aida beating out his fear of Kageyama. Towada was fear’s puppet, constantly bowing to its command as if he lacked a brain of his own. He always tried to break free of the strings, but just as he broke free, there was always another puppet master ready to gather the strings once more.

      It was a cycle, one that Towada couldn’t escape.

      “When you let all those bodies fall without remorse, it’s only befitting that they reach out and pull you down with them,” Aida gloated, moving so that she was standing directly in front of Kageyama. “No matter how you paint it, you’ve lost. And, to commemorate this moment, you’re going to bow to me.”

      “No,” Kageyama said, raising his head so that he was looking at Aida. “No—”

      “Bow your head, and admit defeat.”

      “I’m not—”

      “Towada?”

      Towada gulped down his nerves, knowing what that voice meant. He had to participate in this. He had to do it. His hands were just as dirty as anyone else’s.

      He placed a hand on Kageyama’s head and pushed him down to the ground, finding it harder to push as Kageyama’s head thrashed up, his fighting spirit having kicked in. He was resisting at every push, resisting every touch as he tried to break free of this bind. The bind that was defeat. But, Aida’s constant gloats were what made Towada force Kageyama’s face against the concrete ground, in full view of the same men that he led. They watched from the police van, spirits falling as they realised one major fact.

      Their leader was no longer invincible. He was human.

      The woman standing in front of him? She’d taken his place.

      “How’s the ground taste, Kageyama?”

      She continued to grind her foot against Kageyama’s head, relishing the taste of this victory. Kageyama spluttered against the ground, so Aida pushed her foot down even harder. Her trainers dirtied Kageyama’s hair, while Towada was forced to keep his foot down on Kageyama’s back to prevent him from moving.

      “You’ve lost this battle, Kageyama. Have fun in Shinzen.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, sorry for this huge note at the end, but there's something I need to explain.  
> When I first started writing this series, it was at a time when I was super-obsessed with Haikyuu and constantly shifting my way through fics just to try and find prison AUs (then giving up and deciding to write my own). When I started uploading this second one, I'd only pre-written about half of it since I hadn't really expected to lose interest in this series. But, I started writing for a new fandom and since then, I've kind of been losing interest in the Haikyuu fandom. I'm at the point where I really just need to take a break from the fandom. Not because of any issues or because I don't like Haikyuu itself, but because I've been in this fandom for a pretty long time. I just need a break.
> 
> To all of my consistent reviewers, thank you so much <3 Your reviews gave me the motivation to finish writing this and do a bonus chapter since I didn't want to leave anyone hanging.
> 
> With that said, I want to offer an apology. I wanted to write the final story for this series (which was going to be the escape and closing off all the plotlines brought up thus far) but with my finals coming up this year, the amount of time it would take me to write it and then the fact that I want a break from this fandom, I just can't. I was originally planning to end it all in this fic so that I wouldn't have to worry about leaving anyone 'hanging', but since this fic was originally structured to lead into a third story with all the plotlines and stuff, it was impossible for me to finish it in one go.
> 
> Also, I'm sorry that this actual ending is so depressing. I know you guys have probably grown to expect depressing things from me, but I really didn't intend to end this on such a 'note' when I first started this. But... outside of the bonus chapter, there is something else I can offer. For my notes document, I planned out the plot of the third book a couple of months ago, although I never took it any further than that. So, for anyone that wants to know how I was planning to close off this trilogy, I'll link my plans at the end of this note. However, since this is just a plan of the main plot and nothing else, there are some subplots that aren't explicitly addressed here (e.g. Autumn, the whole Kageyama and Kuroo being brothers things, whether Kuroo and Tsukishima sort things out or not). Sorry that this is all I could offer, but if I ever feel the urge to return to the Haikyuu fandom in the future, I might finish this fic. I can't say anything definite right now since I just want to take a break and anything I say could end up changing in the future, but... yeah. The bonus chapter after this one is a chapter written from Hinata's perspective.
> 
> Hopefully this isn't too disappointing. Thanks to everyone that's stuck with this series of mine, and [here's the link to the official plan](https://justpaste.it/edit/24240604/df0ed6d2b9c38de8)


	38. Bonus Chapter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The events leading up to Hinata's hanging attempt...

      “I’m here,” Hinata said as he walked into Towada’s office, waving to grab Towada’s attention. “Am I being moved to the Mukankei dorm?”

      Hinata had been told to come to Towada’s office once he woke up, although he wasn’t sure about the reason why. He assumed that it was to do with moving dorms. He slid into the opposite chair while waiting patiently for a response.

      “Yes, it is. You’ll be brought to the dorm and allocated a space after breakfast,” Towada said, looking down at a sheet in front of him. Hinata spotted a picture of Natsu on Towada’s desk, which puzzled him. But before he could ask about it, Towada continued to speak. “I’m here to speak to you about a certain family matter. Your sister, Natsu.”

      Hinata frowned. “What’s wrong?”

      “Your parents phoned the prison yesterday, and while they didn’t want to speak to you directly, they asked us to pass the message on to you.”

      Hinata wasn’t surprised by that. His parents had declared that they wouldn’t speak to Hinata while he was in prison since it was meant to be his ‘reflective time’. Besides, they couldn’t let Natsu find out that her big brother had become a prison jailbird.

      “She was hit by a car while walking to school,” Towada began, “and she’s in hospital right now. I don’t know much about what happened, but she’s apparently in a coma.”

      Hinata felt his entire body become numb with shock.

      “The doctors are doing their best to maintain a healthy condition for her, but she lost a lot of blood during the crash. And… they’re saying that it’s unlikely she’ll survive,” Towada continued. “They’ve said that they want you to stay far, far away from their family. This crash was because of your gang history.”

      “W—What?”

      “At the crash, the driver yelled ‘They take Takeru, we’ll take Natsu’. Your family also received a call from some gangsters. They said that unless you kill yourself, they’ll make sure your sister dies. And then, they’ll come after the rest of your family.”

      “W—What? So… this is about Takeru?”

      “It seems so. Obviously, I’m not advocating suicide. But… there’s nothing we can do to help you in this situation, Hinata.”

      “Oh. Well… that’s nice.”

      Hinata wasn’t sure whether he wanted to explode or if he wanted to cry. He was always crying. Always grieving. At this point, he wasn’t sure if he had any tears left to cry. All he could do was ask himself why. Why did the world hate him so much? Why did he have to keep losing when he’d never done anything wrong in life?

      Okay, fine.

      He’d smoked weed. He’d stolen a chocolate bar from a shop once when he was twelve. And, he’d met Takeru.

      Meeting Takeru hadn’t just been ‘wrong’. It had been the biggest mistake of his life.

      “Your parents will phone again in the afternoon,” Towada informed Hinata. The expression on his face was unreadable. “Is there anything you want me to tell them?”

      “Visit me,” Hinata said. “Tell them to do that.”

      There was an awkward silence on Towada’s end. Hinata could already predict what Towada was going to say, but it didn’t make the words hurt any less. “They’ve said that they don’t want to see you. They’re willing to offer their support, but…”

      “They don’t want to see their fuck-up of a son. I get it,” Hinata concluded, getting up and out of his chair. “No hard feelings. Well, thanks.”

      His legs were shaking as he carried himself over to the door, practically lurching through the exit as he slammed the door shut behind him. Each and every toe was clenching inside his too-big boots, just waiting for him to topple to the ground, waiting for him to crumple down to his knees and bawl for God knows how long. But, it just wasn’t happening. His brain was at a disconnect with the rest of his body. He felt like he was on autopilot. His head was stuffed with cotton; his stomach was hollow inside; his emotions were on full blast.

      Or, would it be no blast at all?

      He couldn’t help but wonder if numbness was what you felt when you were feeling too much.

      Was being numb just having so many emotions that you don’t know what to do with them?

      Was being numb just grouping a whole load of complex emotions into one description? One word? One meaning?

      If so, it was bullshit. Hinata wasn’t _numb_. It was so much more complex than that. He didn’t know how to class his emotions, but he wouldn’t just take the coward’s route out and say that he felt _numb_. He didn’t. He just felt pure and utter despair, cloaked in a sense of uncaringness. But, could it even be called uncaringness? He hadn’t stopped paying attention. He was still aware of his surroundings, aware of the glossy floor beneath his feet, aware of the prison garments which were keeping him bound to this damn building.

      So, maybe uncaringness wasn’t even the right word.

      Maybe it was some sort of perpetual sorrow which was making him ache like this, making his lungs throb with the strain of breathing, with the strain of living. There was a white wall in front of him, one which he was pressing his hands and breathing hard against, catching his breath even despite the fact that he hadn’t been running. And he’d pull back, suck even more oxygen in through his lips and blink hard at the wall in front of him. It was still the same old white brick wall, although there were little red chips on it. No doubt, faces had been slammed against these walls. Hell, his own face had ended up against this very wall at some point. Blood had been shed. In a place like this, the only place blood could go was on other people’s hands. It just so seemed that Hinata had the most blood on his.

      He wasn’t sure how, but he found himself stumbling into the chapel and over to the altar, where there was a Shiratorizawa guy with dark hair and a perplexed expression on his face.

      “You’re Yamagata,” Hinata blankly stated.

      “Yeah. You’re Karasuno’s ghost.”

      Hinata didn’t bat an eye at the nickname. He just went straight in with his enquiry. “You sell drugs. Right?”

      “Not to you. No way,” he almost snapped, leaping to his feet before taking several steps away from Hinata. “We don’t do business with Karasuno.”

      “Please. I need it.”

      Again, Yamagata shook his head. “No. I’m not fucking around with that king. I’d rather live to get out of this place, thank you very much.”

      “I’ll give you whatever you want,” Hinata insisted. “Please.”

      “Look, Ghost. You seem like a nice guy,” Yamagata said, letting out a deep sigh as he pulled a small bag out from his pocket. In the bag was a fine white powder, one which Hinata instantly reached out for. Yamagata pulled it out of Hinata’s reach, however, and shook his head before continuing to speak.

      “This shit will fuck your life up, and then Kageyama will come and fuck my beautiful face up for selling this to you. I’m not doing it,” Yamagata concluded, putting the bag of powder back in his pocket. Before Hinata could try to convince him otherwise, Yamagata held up a hand to shut him up. “Don’t approach me again, Ghost.”

      Yamagata turned to walk away from Hinata, who was knitting his fingers together in desperation. Hinata needed something. Anything. Just… he couldn’t settle for nothing at this point. He couldn’t.

      “I’ll give you gossip,” Hinata said, dashing forwards to grab Yamagata’s sleeve. “Really juicy gossip.”

      “I said no. Shit, Ghost. You’re a liability. That’s why I won’t sell to you. Now, shut up. There’s a C.O. standing by the entrance. He just came in,” Yamagata snapped.

      “Then sell. And I’ll shut up.”

      This time, Yamagata slapped Hinata across the face, silencing the orange-haired man’s pleas. There was silence as the C.O. looked up, raised an eyebrow at the two and then resumed his staring down at the floor. The others were too engorged in their Bible reading to notice what was going on. “Go, Ghost. Just go anywhere that isn’t here.”

      Hinata, realising that he wasn’t going to get what he needed, turned and left the chapel, running so fast that his lungs were beginning to burn.

      _He’s going to break_.

      He turned his head left, saw the garden where Kuroo was working.

      _He’s breaking_.

      Turned his head right, saw the cluster of C.Os speaking about something while smoking.

      _Everything’s breaking._

      “Hey, it’s Karasuno’s ghost,” he could faintly hear one inmate saying. “Looks like he’s losing it. Should we get Karasuno?”

      “You must be mad. Kageyama will kill us just for speaking to Karasuno, I bet. You can’t do anything with that king around.”

      The two snickered before walking away, leaving Hinata to continue his haphazard running. His head was pounding as he powered his way forward, slamming his way into the entrance of the prison. He ran to the Karasuno bathroom, although his running gradually turned into walking as he went further, slowly beginning to calm down.

      By the time Hinata had made his way into the bathroom, he was completely calm.


End file.
